


[Series] Assassins

by jade_lil



Series: Assassins [1]
Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Chaptered, M/M, Multi, Ohmiya - Freeform, Sakumoto - Freeform, Series: Assassins, Yama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-17
Updated: 2013-04-11
Packaged: 2017-11-25 20:55:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 30,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/642872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jade_lil/pseuds/jade_lil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trained assassins -- that's what they are; but what if the one person he had vowed his life to protect was the same person they wanted him to kill?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Unbetaed. Forgive the mistakes, I know there's a lot. This was meant to be a drabble posted out of boredom, but now, as Shadz once put it, this became a full blown series. /snickers

 

 

"He's not part of the equation," Jun muttered grimly, eyes never leaving Nino's fingers as the smaller man's hands worked on assembling his gun. Jun kept one of his own hand tucked underneath his jacket, gripping his own weapon while following the movement of Nino's fingers.  
  
Nino smirked, the corners of his mouth curling up in that way that made Jun's insides twist in disgust and anger. "I never said he was," Nino stated with a shrug.  
  
Something told Jun that there was something more to this than what Nino wanted him to believe, and he wasn't that stupid to allow Nino to just shut him out.  
  
"Then why do I feel like you are planning to eliminate him?" Jun asked bravely, trusting his instincts enough not to fail him. That probably was the right question, because Nino's fingers stilled on the gun, and the smaller man's lips broke into a devilish grin. Nino looked up and Jun swore under his breath at the dangerous expression passing through Nino's eyes.  
  
"I said he wasn't part of the equation," Nino said, eyes twinkling with excitement; Jun braced himself and waited. "But that doesn't mean he's not part of the problem," Nino added as he cocked his gun noisily.  
  
Jun swallowed thickly and cursed.  
  
"Is he a target now? Why wasn't I informed?"  
  
Nino made a face but didn't say anything, and Jun was sure that the reason lies at the fact that Nino had been watching him quietly these past few days.  
  
He had to act fast, that's what needed to do.

He needed to find Sho as fast as he could before Nino got to him first. That's the least he could do to keep Sho alive, without letting the organization know that he was protecting Sho.  
  
He stood up without a word and went straight to the door, only to be stopped by Nino's parting words.  
  
"I know where you're heading, J, and I'm not going to stop you," he said and Jun felt his breathe leaving his lungs in a rush. "But just make sure you hide him well because you know me, I don't allow such little problems getting in the way,"  
  
"W-What the fuck are you talking about?" Jun croaked, stunned.  
  
"Oh, quit the bullshit and be on your way while I'm giving you the chance," Nino replied with the threat underlying his tone. "But as I've said, hide him fast and hide him well -- because I don't care if you're my friend, J; I don't care whether you're fucking in love with him because when I find him, I am going to kill him. "


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbetaed. Forgive the mistakes, I know there's a lot. This was meant to be a drabble posted out of boredom, but now, as Shadz once put it, this became a full blown series. /snickers

 

 

“They’ve put a tracking device on Sakurai-san’s phone,” the junior tech mumbled and if Jun didn’t know what the other man was talking about, he might think that the Junior tech was talking to somebody else and not him. The other man pointed to the blinking white sphere on the screen, tapping its side to reveal its exact location. “Don’t ask me how in hell they were able to do that, because even YOU know how to do that; you guys were trained to do absolutely anything, if I may add,” the tech snorted with an air of someone who was probably envious about other people’s ability but Jun knew better.

“I want to know if Nino’s aware that I am protecting Sh – Sakurai-san,” Jun gritted, feeling all the more wary about the whole thing, most especially since this was the first time he had to completely contradict Nino and the organization itself. “Since he already made it through the trouble of messing with Sakurai-san’s mobile phone, enough to track him when he said he was giving me the chance to hide him,”

The technician barked an almost disbelieving laugh. “You’ve been working with Ninomiya-san almost half of your life and you still didn’t realize that he’s probably the smartest assassin this fucking organization had ever produced? No offense meant to you, Matsumoto-san, but Ninomiya-san –“ the technician paused and shook his head, and Jun saw how the man’s eyes glistened with something akin to respect and amazement, his words trailing as if he realized he’d said enough.

“He’s smart, I get that,” Jun replied, reaching over to tap the screen when a blue-colored sphere appeared out of nowhere, advancing quickly towards the white-colored sphere. “but just like you said, I’ve been working with him half my life to know how his brain works,”

The technician grinned and typed something on his keyboard, and the two of them counted from ten backwards without breaking their gazes on the computer screen.

… 4  3  2  1

When the blinking white-colored sphere disappeared almost instantly at the same time they both uttered 1, Jun smiled widened and patted the technician’s shoulder.

“And staging Sakurai-san’s death should help you deal with Ninomiya-san?”

Jun shrugged as he picked his specially-made earphones and squeezing the technician’s shoulder in gratitude.

“No,” Jun replied with a smile, “but that would at least buy me some time to think what I should do next…. Thank you again, Masaki – I owe you one,”

The technician beamed. “Don’t mention it, Matssun. I’m glad to be of help,”

Jun offered him a smile and a wave before he head out; it’s time for him to pay Sakurai-san a visit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbetaed. Forgive the mistakes, I know there's a lot. This was meant to be a drabble posted out of boredom, but now, as Shadz once put it, this became a full blown series. /snickers

 

 

Two steps inside his own apartment and Jun knew instantly that he’s not alone.

He could feel the hairs at the back of his neck rising at the same time he turned around, his instincts kicking instantly before his brain was even able to supply him with the details of how he could keep himself alive without having to resolve into using his gun but was stopped short with the familiar sound of someone’s mirthless chuckles that had Jun backing up a step, frozen still to where he was currently standing.

“You’re late, Matsumoto-san; Been busy eh?” a melodic voice asked and Jun felt more than saw the owner of that voice moved from where it was previously leaning against the far wall, and revealing himself exactly the minute Jun cursed violently under his breath.

 “How the fuck did you get in? I just changed my lock two nights ago and –“ Jun growled, words trailing when the man simply held out his hand and tossed a piece of thin, silver –colored thing in the air, and laughing softly when Jun caught it in one hand with a scowl.

A hair pin. _Fuck_ , really?

“I heard you and Kazu are trying to kill each other,” the man asked in a seemingly bored tone as he walked towards Jun’s couch with the grace of an old, withering grandfather; Jun shook his head and just watched the other man until he settled himself comfortably on his couch, popping his neck and shoulders whilst doing so. For an outsider who knew nothing about this man’s many surprising capabilities, one would think that he’s just that – an old man trapped in the body of a middle-aged guy, but Jun knew better.

In fact, Jun knew how almost all of those people who died in the hands of this man thought that he was as weak as he looked, fragile even, but behind those lazy eyes and sleepy grin, was a man who could kill someone in a matter of seconds without even blinking.

Well, the same goes for all of them but frankly, Jun always wondered how someone like this man ended up in an organization where he’s completely didn’t look like he was suited to be in one, but dismissed the thought entirely when he remembered how this man was able to render him paralyzed for a good fifteen minutes the first time they met each other.

Jun smiled drily and cocked his head to the side, finally letting himself relaxed when the man did the same.

“Well, I’m not sure where you heard that rumor but I’m certainly not trying to kill anyone most especially your precious Kazu,” he stated with an elegant eye roll before strutting his way towards his miniscule kitchen and grabbing two bottles of beer, bringing both back to his living room. Placing the other bottle down, he settled himself opposite the other man and waited patiently till the other man reached over and grabbed the bottle, taking little sips without taking his gaze off of Jun’s face.

The man smirked and Jun was suddenly reminded of how deadly this man was and how careful he should be no matter how confident he was on his ability to defend himself.

“So does that mean that the rumor about your apparent involvement to Kazu’s target isn’t true?”

Jun blinked, confused. “Sakurai-san wasn’t Ninomiya’s target, but someone else; I’m sure of it because I read the order!”

The other man seemed unperturbed. “The target being Sakurai Sho’s father?”

“He is his father’s son, but that doesn’t mean he should suffer the same fate just because he happens to be following his father’s footsteps,”

The other man nodded, grinning. “Your logic is kind of confusing, but okay, supposed we will spare his life, are you sure he’s not going to end up where his father is standing now? You said it yourself, Matsumoto-san, that Sakurai Sho is following his father’s footsteps – so it means that he knows everything about his father and yet he still willingly takes the same road knowing where it will lead him?”

Jun knew what this man was doing, but he wasn’t going to let him brainwash him into siding with them. He knew Sho, had known the older man’s ambitions to improve the lives of so many people by doing what he knew was best.

“It’s different,” Jun murmured, mostly to himself and ignoring the way the other man swung his legs and stood up without even making any noise. “He’s different,”

“I hope you’re right, Matsumoto-san,” the man mumbled, reaching over to place a hand over one of Jun’s shoulder and squeezing the same shoulder lightly; Jun looked up to see the genuine concern on the man’s face, but it was layered with something akin to worry and something close to resignation.

“I am; I know I am,”

“Then I hope you are prepared to fight this battle alone because no one from the inside is going to back you up – oh, maybe aside from me if you can show me that this man is worth the protection you are so willingly giving him,”

Jun backed up, stunned. “Y-You mean, you’re going to –“

The other man waved his fingers in a non-committal kind of way. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, Matsumoto-san; I’m just saying that I am willing to negotiate, that is if you can show me that Sho Sakurai is a worthy man…”

“And if he is? If I managed to do that, will you be willing to help me protect him, enough to get in the way of your precious Kazu?”

The older man smiled serenely.  “That’s an interesting thought, but we’ll see; But if you’re right, then I guess there’s no helping it…it’s going to be so much trouble in the long run, since Kazu’s not going to like the idea of me going behind his back, but he’ll come around.”

Jun couldn’t believe how this conversation had turned out but he’s guessing that as long as it’s going towards his desire direction, then he could very well deal with all this shit with a smile.

He held out his hand, waiting for the other man to grab it and shaking the man’s hands firmly when the older man smiled and took Jun’s hand in his.

“I promise you won’t regret helping me with this, Ohno-san,” Jun said, bowing low.

Ohno’s lips curled, a lop-sided grin breaking at the corners of his mouth while he shook his head. “Hey, hey, I haven’t –“

Jun clicked his tongue. “You already are, Ohno-san… you already are,”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the main characters' first interaction!

 

 

 

“I told you to lay low with everything, and that specifically includes abstaining yourself from using your computer, and the internet, specially,”

The other man jerked, looking like a kid who was caught stealing on the spot; Jun’s expression softened at the obvious distress on the man’s face, but they both knew that this was for the best. He didn’t want to make the other man feel like he’s a prisoner here, although come to think of it, that’s precisely how this looked to anyone who didn’t have the slightest idea about the dangers that this man was currently dwelling into.

“I… I’m s-sorry, but you can’t expect me to – I m-mean, I h-have to know what’s happening out there,”

Jun took that as his cue to come inside, leaving his coat and his shoes on the entryway without bothering arranging them. “Aside from the frenzy we unconsciously created brought about by your untimely death, I don’t think you have missed a lot. Besides, if there’s anything you need to know, I swear I’d be the first to supply you with the necessary information,”

The man let out a tiny smile at that and Jun had to literally stop himself from crossing the distance between them, to press his nose against that soft patch of skin beneath the other man’s ear and to feel the man’s heartbeat underneath his fingertips. He didn’t because no matter how much he wanted this man, he had to keep his mind clear and the only way to do that was to stay away from him, away from the many confusing things this man’s touch could do to him.

It’s been days and god, he’d been craving the familiar burn when they’re so close he could almost breathe him, the electric twist in his gut whenever their skin touched. He wanted to do that the first time the both of them stood here, in the very same place, but he had refrained from taking another step towards the other man knowing that he wouldn’t be able to stop once he’s got him too close.

 “Did they believe it? I mean, my death? Are you sure they wouldn’t go as far as hurting my family just to –“

 “I’m not sure, really,” Jun answered, cutting the man’s words off; it was true that he’s not sure, but as far as he knew, their plan had been a successful one. Nino had stopped watching him since the news of Sho’s death broke out, and Ohno had been particularly more relaxed since the last time they saw each other. “And there’s no way to know whether they’ve finally given up finding you but until I am sure, I’m not taking my chances – so it may probably take a while before I allow you to leave this place, but until then, please Sho-chan, please bear with me,”

The man shrugged and stood up, walking straight to where the coffeemaker was; Jun watched him from behind, watched him as the firm muscles on his arms shifted with the movement as he poured coffee in two mugs before turning around to hand Jun the other one.

Jun bowed a little, murmuring ‘thanks’ under his breath before taking a few sips. Sho did the same, not breaking their gazes and Jun felt the heat creeping up to his face when the man smiled.

“What?” Jun grouched, absently wiping at his cheeks and hoping he could brush the embarrassment away with the gesture.

“It has been two weeks since you brought me here and since then, you haven’t even properly look at me –haven’t even tried reaching out to touch me and it’s – well – it’s kind of annoying, really,” the other man mumbled around his mug, his tone was filled with silent accusation.

Jun had been living this life filled with blood, with people dying in his hands at every turn and he was sure he had long forgotten how it was like to feel something for someone – to feel such heady connection with someone that even the simple thing as standing in the same room with him was making Jun’s head spin with too many conflicting emotions he didn’t know how to handle.

“S-Sho-chan, I…” he mumbled with a startling realization that they were actually thinking of the same thing, as warmth started spreading through him, heat exploding in tiny little bursts when Sho placed his mug down and walked towards him.

Three big strides and Sho was already in front of him, looking up at him without saying anything and Jun’s chest rumbled with something that was also written through the other man’s eyes. “I’m here, safe and alive because of you,” Sho started, reaching up to trace Jun’s cheek with the tips of his fingers and Jun felt more awake at that moment than he had in days. “All you have to do is kiss me to know that I’m real, Matsumoto,”

Jun hesitation only lasted a few seconds before he found himself being pulled in, Sho’s fingers wounding through his hair as Sho nipped at his bottom lip softly.

“Sho-chan,” Jun sighed through the other man’s lips, closing his eyes and allowing the other man’s presence consumed him.

“Yes, yes, -- _ahh,_ Jun,”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were both sixteen when they were recruited by the organization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, some back story!

They were both sixteen when they were recruited by the organization.

For Jun, it wasn’t because of anything tragic – in fact, he vaguely remembered being bored out of his mind, and the only reason he agreed when they first approached him was to pass the time. He wasn’t poor, well, not that it mattered since his family belonged to society’s so-called ‘middle class’, but Jun didn’t particularly liked the normalcy, or whatever the hell they called his life then. He was bored, and he wanted to do something that was out of the ordinary, and when he was approached by one of the organization’s representatives, he didn’t even think twice about agreeing.

Well, it’s possibly because he thought he was being scouted to be an idol, and later on learning that he wasn’t being scouted to be in the entertainment world came as a shock after a while, but only a little.

Nino’s story on the other hand, was completely the opposite.

Nino was ten when his family was murdered one by one, right in front of his eyes; it was the night of Nino’s sister’s eighteenth birthday.

His mother had came home early from her part time job to celebrate the occasion with her two children; there were only the three of them, since his father had been missing for several weeks then, not that it was something new, so the fact wasn’t bothering them as much as it did the first time it happened.

Nino remembered excusing himself in favor of a brief trip to the bathroom, leaving his mother and sister on the living room where their mother had splayed the little feast she had prepared specifically for that day; he wasn’t even done washing his hands when he heard their front door opened with a loud bang and his mother and sister’s combined screams filling the air in between.

Nino rushed back only to find around five middle-aged men gathered around their living room, four of them were restraining his mother and sister and the other one moving behind them to check out the food that were left on the living room table.

It was Nino’s father.

Nino was about to step in, but was stopped when his gaze darted onto his mother’s eyes; she couldn’t speak because one of the guys who were restraining her had slapped a hand over her mouth while the other had started touching her from behind. They couldn’t see Nino, but Nino could tell with the way his mother stared at him that she was telling him to run, to escape and Nino barely managed to move back into the shadows, wishing the darkness would keep him safe.

He barely heard his father asking his mother about him, and his mother telling his father that he was in a friend’s house for a sleepover, before his father had laughed out loud and motioned for the four men to continue what they were doing.

In front of his father, Nino’s mother and sister were raped before his father ordered them to be killed.

The crime had been on the news for several months, and Nino had been put into custody the whole time the police worked on the case; Nino was asked over a hundred times whether he was able to see those who were responsible for the murder of his mother and sister, but Nino chose to keep his mouth shut until the end.

He wasn’t going to let his father get caught only to be put in jail; he deserved more than that punishment, and Nino knew exactly what punishment it should be.

Six months after Nino was recruited, he requested his first assignment to be his very own father.

And Nino delivered the punishment that was six years in the making – without blinking, without even thinking twice.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and now, here’s some Ohmiya porn as a side dish – don’t tell me you didn’t see this one coming? XD

“You seemed distracted – care telling me why?”

The man beneath him shifted a little and Nino felt the man’s long fingers settling over the damp skin of his thighs, fingernails dragging themselves across his skin in a way that left him tingling, shivering. His knees felt numb already, since he’d been kneeling for what seemed like forever, his legs parted wide as he braced himself above the other man with one hand planted against the man’s stomach and the other gripping the man’s legs.

“I think you’re mistaken,” the other man replied, pulling himself up slowly without letting Nino go, stopping when he’s finally leaning against Nino’s headboard with Nino sitting up on him, his flesh still buried inside Nino’s body. “I’m not the one who’s distracted – it’s you,” he said, wrapping Nino firmly in one hand and squeezing, smiling to himself when Nino very clearly hissed and thrashed his head back.

He’s aware of this game before it even started and frankly, he knew he wouldn’t be the one to beg in the end if it would even came to that.

Nino leaned in forward and stopped when they’re faces were barely a breathe apart, grinning mischievously as Nino stuck his tongue out and licked a long, wet line from his chin up to the underside of his ear.  “Liar,” Nino grumbled, flicking his tongue and letting the tip traced his jaw, breathing warm air against his face. “You know I lie better than you do, Satoshi,” Nino hummed as he nipped at his earlobe, and grinning widely when the man moaned his response. “Now quit the crap and tell me what you’ve been up to,”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Kazu,” Satoshi managed to grit out, biting his tongue to keep himself yelling when Nino suddenly went tight around him, before pulling himself up and then dropping back down again a few times.

Nino ducked his head and started biting his way down the column of his neck, marking his skin with bites and sucks as Nino repeatedly clenched around his cock. “Come on, Ohchan –“

Ohno smiled wickedly at the desperation on Nino’s voice, but he wasn’t about to give in to Nino’s demands knowing that he’s always better at this than Nino. He’d been trained to withstand physical pain, almost all of them did, but when it came to this, he knew he could outrank Nino without even batting an eyelid.

Nino may have perfected the act of teasing, and Ohno knew he was never immune to Nino’s charms, but even then, he knew how to handle him; they could go on teasing each other for hours, and half the time Nino was the one initiating the foreplay, but Ohno knew Nino’s limitations enough to push him towards it when he felt like it.

“I know you’re trying to – _ahh, shit_ – help Jun,” Nino moaned brokenly and Ohno knew it was time. He grabbed Nino by the hips and turned them over without pulling out of Nino’s body, groaning at the same time Nino arched his back and clenched around him again. He was letting out words of profanities within seconds, but was still able to grab Nino’s arms in one hand and pinned them above Nino’s head as he kissed Nino’s mouth hungrily before pushing back in, almost too roughly that the bed shook at the motion.

They were both panting hard when he stilled above Nino, looking down and straight into the younger man’s eyes, their cocks throbbing painfully for release – his own was buried inside Nino’s body and Nino’s pressed against the firm muscle of his stomach.

There’s no better way to distract Nino than to let Nino know how deeply he was buried inside the slighter man’s body, jerking his hips in slow, uninterrupted motions that he knew drove Nino crazy everytime. Nino’s eyes rolled to the back of his head at one particular jerk, and Ohno knew he had just hit the right spot.

He groaned, low and deep as he attached his lips against the hollow of Nino’s throat. “You’ve known me long enough to know that I don’t let myself get involve in things that I don’t consider important,” he murmured against Nino’s skin, smiling quietly with the way Nino moaned huskily back, eyes shutting closed as he placed a wet, open-mouthed kiss against Nino’s bare shoulder. “Well, maybe aside from getting myself involved with you – which is entirely different since you’re, well --” he added after a harder thrust that had Nino moaning out loud. 

He thrust forward, the mattress creaking in time with his movements as Nino wrapped both legs around his waist, pulling him in deeper.

“Stop – _ahhh_ – lying, Satoshi,” Nino muttered around a breathless moan, his small body was bouncing in time with Ohno’s thrusts. “I saw you left Jun’s apartment a week ago, and I am sure you’ve got something to do with Jun’s fucking crap of a plan, to make me believe the authenticity of Sakurai’s death – which was, ahhh, fuck --”

 _Fucking smart,_ that’s what Nino is and Ohno knew that from the first time their eyes met; there were a lot of things about Nino that made him want to think twice of getting into Nino’s bad side, but as it was, he was also fairly sure that in bed or even out of it, they were the perfect match.

Nino may have been the smartest, wittiest assassin the organization had ever produced, but Nino was also well aware about his uncanny ability to read the younger man’s mind and actions without even breaking a sweat.

Nino knew this and it was an advantage he’s bent on fully utilizing knowing that Nino didn’t have the strength or the courage to tell him off, to stop him especially when he wanted in.

Ohno pulled out, and then pushed back in, lips hovering over Nino’s ears and biting the sensitive flesh as Nino convulsed against him. “So what if I am?” he whispered around a wicked grin, pumping wildly into the heat of Nino’s body and watching Nino’s face contort in pleasure; Nino’s eyes were half-lidded, and he knew it would only take him a few more thrusts before he let go of himself as well.

Nino arched into him once again, baring the skin of his throat as Ohno leaned down to suck at Nino’s pulse point. “ _Fuck_ , I’m going to kill you both,” Nino moaned, and Ohno smiled against Nino’s skin, bucking hard once, twice, shuddering at the same time Nino screamed his name, coming in violent spurts against his and Ohno’s chests.

Ohno pulled out and squeezed his cock, spurting his come all over Nino’s stomach and chest, his shaking fingers moving to pinch the head of his cock before he dropped back down on top of Nino’s body, and leaning up to press a soft kiss against the corners of Nino’s lips.

“Sure,” he mumbled sleepily, arms pulling at Nino until they were curled around each other like they were one. “I’d like to see you try, Kazunari,”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for this chapter, I give you – a little bit of AIMIYA. Next part will be the continuation of this chapter, a kind of another back story – Aiba focused. Enjoy this short intermission.

“No, I’m sure we will know if you are being followed,” Aiba mumbled quietly to his phone, taking his keycard out from his wallet and sliding it into place, the lock beeping once before the door opened quietly. He kicked the door fully open with one foot, toeing his shoes off at the same time he turned back around, tapped his password on the small screen behind his door and listened to the other man’s instructions on the phone. “Yeah, I had it programmed like that,” he said, reaching over to switch on the lights as he slipped on his pair of green house slippers.

The man on the other end sounded unconvinced. “Of course, that’s the standard design -- you’ve seen the blueprint of the first batch, and I believe they also taught you how to make one out of any available resources so I am pretty sure that the programming and interface are the same on the ones they’ve put on Sa – _Muscle-chan’s_ mobile phone to track him down; Ninomiya-san only used a program code that looks similar on the ones I am using so we would think that the bug belongs to us and not from --”

“Then why wasn’t it detected if he used the same thing as you did?” asked the man again, cutting Aiba’s words off; Aiba shook his head in amusement as he padded his way towards his kitchen first, going straight to his fridge to grab himself a can of beer. No wonder he was warned by a few of Matsumoto’s closest assassin friends, because the man really tended to act suspiciously paranoid than the situation warranted.  

He chuckled humorlessly and decided to indulge the younger man, at least until he deemed it tolerable and grinning quietly to himself when the man started moaning about worrying over Muscle-chan and thinking of relocating him just to be sure.

“I don’t think that’s necessary, Matssun,” Aiba declared with a grin, burping loudly afterwards; Jun snorted on the other end and Aiba laughed loudly as he walked towards his still pretty much dark living room without bothering turning the lights on, finding his couch by memory alone and flopping himself down onto it with a sigh. “I’m sure you’d know first-hand if Ninomiya-san’s tailing you or Muscle-chan, but so far, the only reason you’re acting like that is because of your silly hunch and it isn’t even –“

“So it’s true,” a voice added itself to Aiba’s supposed private conversation, his phone almost escaping his grip when he had quickly whipped around to find someone approached him from behind, the shadows complimenting the looming figure as Aiba froze still on his place. “You did choose to stab me in the back, the same way the others did,”

“W-What are y-you --? _N-Ninomiya-san?_ ”

The stranger’s hand was quickly reaching out to grab Aiba’s phone, turning it off without bothering ending the call and tossing the phone on Aiba’s couch before jumping forward to straddle Aiba’s lap like a lithe cat.

The stranger placed a hand around Aiba’s neck, his small fingers threading the hairs at the back of Aiba’s nape as he leaned forward to nose at Aiba’s cheek. “That’s right, Aiba-shii…” the other man mumbled, his lips hovering Aiba’s own; “now, could you please explain to me why in hell you’re siding with Matsumoto as well? Do you really hate me and my guts that much for you to end up fighting with them? You’re naïve if you think I’d allow anyone – and I mean anyone to stand in the way of accomplishing my mission,”

Aiba swallowed hard, not trusting himself to say anything that would help him keep himself alive at least until he was able to call Jun for help. But then Ninomiya was leaning in forward again, and Aiba felt the smaller man’s lips against the corner of his own trembling ones, nipping at that spot lightly.

“I’m waiting, Aiba-shii,” Ninomiya mumbled, breathing damp air against Aiba’s skin as Aiba shuddered uncontrollably; he squirmed and did his best to stay completely still when Ninomiya tilted his head and dragged his lips along Aiba’s jaw before settling on biting at Aiba’s left earlobe.

“Fine, if you don’t want to talk,” Ninomiya mumbled, “I know a few persuading tactics and I don’t mind using them on you…”

Aiba squirmed.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Ninomiya in action <3

It didn’t take a genius to know what the smaller man was talking about, what with the way the other man’s fingers were currently making their way down the front of his pants, and his slightly parted mouth kept puffing warm breaths against the sensitive skin of his ear while rocking his hips ever so slightly.

Aiba’s eyes closed on their own accord, a moan tearing itself out of Aiba’s throat when Ninomiya firmly grabbed his half-hard length from outside its confinements before squeezing him hard.

“Wow, this is even easier than I thought,” Ninomiya grumbled, sounding too smug even despite the haziness that was clouding Aiba’s senses; he was panting hard, and it didn’t help that Ninomiya chose that moment to attach his lips against the hollow of Aiba’s throat, sucking that spot with urgency as his fingers stroked Aiba’s flesh in time with the movement of his mouth.

Aiba’s hands flew to Ninomiya’s hips, fingernails digging almost painfully against Ninomiya’s skin; it shouldn’t be like this, Aiba thought warily, almost resignedly,  because it had been years since he had experienced the same heady and intoxicating emotion, and he had swore he would never give in to the need – never again – most especially if it involved this man.

But he couldn’t – and it was evident in the way he was responding to the smaller man’s touches, his body shivering with need at the simple brush of the smaller man’s fingers against his skin.

“N-Ninomiya-san,” he moaned the other’s name, fingers tensing against their grip on the man’s hips and Aiba found himself responding to the smaller man’s action, jerking his hips up, his own throbbing flesh seeking the delicious friction despite hearing that tiny voice up in his head telling him how stupid he was for giving in so easily.

Ninomiya chuckled against Aiba’s skin, lips dragging itself from his throat to nip at his chin before landing squarely against his lips. He moaned through Ninomiya’s mouth and wondered briefly how he ended up here, with his tongue tangled against Ninomiya’s own when not even a few minutes ago, he actually feared for his own pathetic, miserable life.

“Two years ago, I was Nino to you –“ Ninomiya mused after a broad lick against the shell of Aiba’s ear and Aiba gasped sharply, his breath coming in nervous puffs. “and just because I was gone when you woke up the morning after doesn’t mean I forgot all about it, Aiba-shii, so why the formality? Was it the reason why you’re going against me now, huh?”

Aiba tried reasoning, he really did, but Ninomiya seemed to know exactly what to do, enough to render Aiba speechless, and gaping at the way Ninomiya’s pointing out the thing that Aiba had been trying hard to forget.

 _He remembered, oh god, he remembered_.

“L-Let me go,” the words were out of Aiba’s lips before he could stop it, trying to squirm out of the smaller man’s firm hold even though he knew how futile the act was.

Ninomiya smiled, wicked and smug; “Make me,” he said, but Aiba knew he couldn’t.

Ninomiya dragged his fingers up Aiba’s length, squeezing the tip with his thumb and forefinger, and Aiba was so far gone he could barely breath. In the middle of all these confusing and dizzyingly intense emotion settling over his entire body, Aiba wondered whether he should ask the higher ups to add a clause or something close to it in his contract, stating that assassins shouldn’t go after the organization’s own employees, because clearly, this wasn’t fair at all.

“You won’t get anything from me, so I highly suggest you stop this now or –“

Ninomiya grinned, all feline-like and confident. “Or you will what?” he said, obviously daring Aiba to say it; Aiba didn’t – couldn’t really, because Ninomiya’s hand was on him again, teasing him and making sure he couldn’t utter a completely coherent sentence without literally sputtering. “See, you can’t even think past the pleasure and I’m only using my hand,” Ninomiya added drily, amused beyond words. Then he winked, leaning in forward to nibble on Aiba’s ear, licking the shell with the tips of his wicked tongue. “I bet if I go down and take you into my mouth, you’d end up promising the world to me the way you have done two years ago, Aiba-shii,”

Aiba thrashed his head back and with another shuddering breath, he felt Ninomiya’s wet mouth against his neck, sucking him hard again as he came, as memories of the past came crushing back like a forceful riptide.

#

It had been a pretty long day, what with the tensed atmosphere all over the place, even down below where Aiba and the other techs worked – far from the eyes of the public and far from the dangers of being discovered by the authorities.

The company Aiba was working in (the same organization who hired Jun and Nino) had set up a business that mostly dealt with customer service – a sort of ‘call center’ kind of business, if one was to be asked about it but of course, it was just a cover up.

Jun and Nino worked as normal salary men by day – or by night, whatever the situation called for it; they were trained not only to kill mercilessly but also as professional in any field of their choice. Nino had various masteral degrees under his name – most weren’t even included in the organization’s requirements but Nino chose to still take those up without thinking twice, without even bothering stating his reasons if asked.

The younger man had been on his mind since the day they met two years ago. Aiba had been recruited after he suddenly got famous for creating an online game that, after only a week of being launched, had literally taken over the online gaming world by storm – beating all of those famously established games by programming the best combat fight skills for the players, aside from the state-of-the-art and futuristic graphics that no professional programmer was able to come up before him.

Aiba was offered to work on programming a complex, run-off-the-mill ‘assassin game’ wherein the player was supposed to enter a completely secluded building, with round-the-clock security cameras and about a thousand security personnel scattered all over the whole place – the purpose of the game was for the ‘assassin’ to enter the building without being noticed, pass by the security cameras and to kill the target exactly fifteen minutes after entering, and Aiba had to come up with an elaborate yet doable game strategy three days after he was offered the job.

Aiba loved the idea of his skills being challenged to the fullest so he agreed almost immediately.

Aiba had programmed the game – and then surprising even the organization’s oldest and smartest computer geek by even coming up with the idea of producing the gadgets that the assassin/player would be using and presenting them to the management board the day after he completed the game. To say that he had impressed the upper management would be an understatement, because right then and there, he was offered to lead the organization’s IT/software development team aside from offering him a dizzying amount of money as monthly compensation for his future works.

That was also the first time he and Nino had met.

He hadn’t really noticed Nino being there the whole time he was busy demonstrating how the game worked, or even after he was done showing his audience the gadgets and their capabilities; he had been fully-occupied with watching those people’s reactions instead of keeping tabs of the faces and memorizing them. He just vaguely remembered finding a younger fellow sitting at the farthest end of the room, game console in hand and looking the least interested to the world around him when the so-called CEO had called the younger fellow’s attention and asked for him to come forward.

The instant their eyes met, Aiba felt a strange twist in his gut, an almost awkward tinge somewhere deep inside him when the slighter man’s lips curled at the corners, and instantly feeling like he was being watched from the inside and out most especially when the slighter man all but came forward without breaking their gazes.

Aiba knew --  had known even then that Nino was probably the most dangerous man he had ever met in his life and yet he didn’t feel even the slightest hesitation to smile at the man, and wanting to reach out and brush the man’s bangs away from covering his pretty eyes.

“Meet Ninomiya-san, Aiba-san,” the CEO had said then, breaking the silence and effectively helping Aiba’s brain into functioning properly again; he automatically  bowed his head, heart still beating surprisingly fast as he waited for Ninomiya until he was close enough to be offered a hand shake. “He’ll be working with you in this project,” the CEO had added then, and Aiba had whipped his head around to stare confusedly back at the older man.

“S-Sorry?”

The CEO had smiled then, all white teeth and confident little shrug. “Oh, right,” he had said then, “we forgot to tell you that the game we asked you to program was just a sort of ‘Training module’… since you were able to deliver the game perfectly – not to mention how brilliant I found these supporting gadgets are –“

“W-Wait, wait… what exactly do you mean by that? The two of us working together? Is Ninomiya-san also a programmer? Aren’t you satisfied with the –“

The CEO had waved a hand into his general direction, cutting him off with a curt nod.

“Oh, don’t get the wrong idea, Aiba-san,” the older man had said and prompting Aiba to sit down once again while Ninomiya took a step back, arms crossed tightly over his chest. Aiba then realized that the room had gone very quiet, and everyone was staring at them, waiting for the CEO’s next words. “Your game is perfect as it is, there’s no doubt about that but see, we didn’t ask you to design a game like that just for the heck of it – and also because, well, we’re _not_ that kind of company,”

Aiba had looked up to see the smile ghosting Ninomiya’s lips.

“W-What --?”

The CEO’s smile was as treacherous as Aiba’s imagination.

“I want you to hand over the blue print designs for those guns and suits so our technical team could work on duplicating them, then I want you to go with Ninomiya-san and run over the strategies with him – in perfect detail so he could prepare himself,”

Aiba had blinked then, truly confused, surprised even. “P-Prepare himself to do what?” he muttered, gaze shifting to Ninomiya at the same time someone from behind them had moved to throw something shiny (which he had later on realized to be a small, sharp pocket knife) aiming it straight into the back of Ninomiya’s head, and Nino simply tilting his head to the side and catching the knife with one hand without even bothering looking back.

Aiba had only seen those jaw-dropping moves on TV and seeing it happen right in front of his eyes was something Aiba hadn’t expected, let alone able to comprehend until the CEO spoke again.

“To do his job and play this game at the same time  -- oh, I forgot to mention that Ninomiya-san loved video games and this one you have created is a dream come true for him; he’d get to accomplish his job while playing the game in which there is no need for smashing keys and brain strategies… he gets to do the real thing, thanks to you, Aiba-san,”

Ninomiya had moved then, placing the pocket knife in front of Aiba and bowing slightly.

“I am looking forward to work with you, Aiba-shii,” Ninomiya had whispered softly and Aiba knew then that he was doomed from the very start.

He really was.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now, let the action begin!

Jun’s body was already on the move even before his eyes were properly opened.

“Get up, Sho-chan – we have to move!” he hissed in between gritted teeth, struggling with one hand to slip into his pants without bothering with his underwear and the other he was using to shake Sho awake; he could feel his adrenaline pumping through his veins, his eyes wild and alert, blinking the sleepiness away as he pushed at Sho till they were both crouching down and covering him with his own body while the older man was struggling to put his own clothes on.

“W-What’s happening?” Sho hissed in return, stumbling back when Jun quickly and quietly slapped a hand over Sho’s mouth while he shook his head, turning round to cock his gun as Sho started shaking behind him.

He wasn’t expecting this at all, but judging with the sounds the both of them was hearing, he could tell that the place was already being surrounded. He could feel the tremble of Sho’s body against his, felt the coldness of the older man’s hands when they moved to grip his elbow and pulled him close enough to feel each of Sho’s harsh intakes of breaths.

“Calm down, Sho-chan,” he murmured under his breath and made sure that he’s got his spare ammos within his reach as he turned to grab the back of Sho’s nape, pulled him close and mashed their mouths together. When he pulled back, Sho’s eyes were clearly a shade darker and he was at least breathing differently than he was seconds ago. “Look at me,” he commanded, squeezing Sho’s shoulder a little too tightly, as if telling the older man that he’s just there, that he’s not about to let anything happen to him. “I’m not going to let them take you, or hurt you or do something bad to you, I swear,” he promised, leaning in to kiss the corners of Sho’s mouth when Sho nodded. “They’re going to have to move past me before they even manage to lay a finger on you,”

Sho stilled for a moment and Jun knew then that they were both thinking of the same thing, because if their hunches were true and that they were finally found by Nino, then trying to come up with an escape plan was already out of the question.

Most especially with Ninomiya’s penchant for bombs and explosives and leaving no traces of human life on his wake if he could get away with it.

“What if he’s planning on bombing the whole place down?” Sho asked in haste, trying to mask his fright by catching Jun’s lips into a quick kiss that Jun barely noticed it. Only one thing was important at that moment, and that was to make sure he’d get Sho to safety – out of that place alive, no matter what.

Jun shook his head. “There’s a fire exit near that small door – the one on the left, the same one I told you about the night I brought you here… you have to go there quickly and I’ll cover you before they come –“

“I’m not leaving this place without you, Matsumoto!” Sho hissed, desperation seeping through every fiber of his being and it was evident in the way he was gripping at Jun’s arms like they were his lifeline. Jun’s stance softened even without him wanting to and then Sho was kissing him again, hard and desperate, as if it was going to be the last time.

Jun knew he was shaking his head, biting down on his lips if only to keep the emotions from floating into the surface; he realized now how right Ohno was when he told him he’d have to choose, because he wouldn’t be able to protect Sho like this if he’s too involved that he couldn’t even think properly when Sho was so near he could almost taste him.

He gritted his teeth at the same time he reached out to catch Sho’s face in between his shaking palms, leaning in and pressing their foreheads together. “You have to,” he said determinedly as he stared straight into the older man’s eyes, wishing he would understand. “…if that’s the only thing left for me to save you,”

“No,” Sho muttered just as fiercely and Jun knew there was only one way to do this, but he knew it would mean he’d have to hurt Sho in the process.

But even before he was able to do anything, a voice added itself to the already unbearable noises brought about by the combined sounds of their ragged breaths and the shuffling noises coming from all around them.

“Come out, come out wherever you are,”

Of course he should have known who it was; of course.

 It was Ninomiya.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Interrupting our regular programming with this little intermission. Also, have I mentioned how much I love Nino here? No? well, I love him XD

Company meetings, Nino thought drily, were always quite horribly boring.

Really, he couldn’t really understand why they – the so-called ‘cold-blooded assassins’ should sit on a usual hour-long conference/briefing/meeting or whatever the hell they’re called and listen to everyone talk -- talk about their thoughts on how to strategically kill someone on that day’s ‘list’ when them upper management people didn’t even have an inkling about how ‘ _killing someone’_ actually worked.

Nino sometimes wondered why, of all the organization that was possibly doing the same line of work, he was recruited by this particular one.

Well, it wasn’t like Nino hated his job, of course not, it’s just that sometimes, he wondered why the management often acted like everything around here was normal when they’re obviously not – like right now, for him to be sitting here along with about a dozen of his colleagues (half of them were struggling to keep their eyes open, while the other half were probably already asleep, with them having mastered the act of sleeping with their eyes fully opened) and listening to one of the higher-ups’ apparent attempt at keeping everyone interested in the topic by actually coming prepared, complete with a Powerpoint presentation wherein the faces of the day’s target list were being shown chronologically.

Nino didn’t even dared look up to check out the faces of the people whom he was sure was going to end up dead by the end of the week and just opted on trying to entertain himself by poking one of his colleague’s butt with his toe, and giggling to himself whenever the man would look back to throw him a ridiculously cute little glare. The man on his right – the one whom he once partnered with seemed wholly intent on making everyone believe that he was raptly listening but he wasn’t fooling anyone -- that all-too-bright eyes meant he was clearly about 99 percent asleep and Nino had plans on saving him for his later entertainment knowing that this meeting’s probably going to take a while longer than Nino hoped it would.

“This time around, as some of you might already noticed – well, at least those of you who are actually listening and not pretending to be listening and are actually sleeping – that our list includes a couple of high-ranking government officials,” the speaker boasted and Nino found himself snorting quietly; he didn’t know why it’s always such a big deal when their order kill included government officials, because as much as Nino was concerned, it had been one of his ultimate favorites.

He didn’t need to mention that personally, he had his very own long list of names – those people that he would want to assassinate himself if given the chance.

“I heard they’re changing the rules of the game this time,” the guy from Nino’s left spoke for the first time – Kame – one of the season’s most promising recruits – as he tossed his pen carefully in between his fingers while Nino tried his hardest not to quirk an eyebrow.

“Change the game, how?” he said, playing along even when his attention was being split in half with the way his fingers were being sucked by the man in his front as if they were the only people in there. He gasped, feeling the man’s wicked tongue rolling over and around one of his stubby digits, before sucking it hard. “Fuck, Ohchan, could you please stop doing that?” he hissed under his breath, snatching his hand back but not without delivering a little revengeful smack across the back of the other man’s head.

“You started it,” The man answered with a smirk and then went back into staring into space like usual.

Kame seemed oblivious to everything around him aside from making sure his pen wouldn’t slip his fingers.

“Well, I heard they are going to make us choose who we want to assassinate this time,”

Nino grinned. “Oh, that’s interesting,” he said, reaching over to run his fingers along the curve of Ohno’s neck, still not bothering looking up to check the rest of the list.

“Okay, listen up people,” the speaker was at it again, trying to grab their attention as Nino continued messing the small hairs down the back of Ohno’s head, tugging the silky strands and still mostly ignoring everyone. “Since a lot of you are obviously complaining about how apparently boring we do things around here lately, we’ve came up with something that would surely interest you,”

Oh.

“Is he talking about -- ?”

Kame shrugged. “I told you,” he said; Nino felt Ohno’s shoulder stiffened.

“This time around, we are going to let you choose which person on the list you would want to take as your assignment; we wouldn’t be assigning whoever to anyone, so pay attention to the names! Pick whoever you want, do whatever you want on your chosen target – you also get the say on everything this time – when and when you want to do the kill, and how you would want to bring that person down, so long as you stick to the protocol… and since we’re doing this the anything-goes-way, we shall call this, FREESTYLE!”

Nino found himself snorting again.

“Their lack of originality is highly amusing, don’t you think, Ohchan?” he mused against Ohno’s ear, completely ignoring the way that Kame is now attentively staring up, probably scanning the list of names that were being shown in the huge LCD screen. “Didn’t we call our little, hmmm, ‘bedroom games’ with that name as well?”

Ohno hummed along with a careless shrug.

“So,” the speaker spoke again after clearing his throat noisily. “First on the list we have – Sakurai Shohei – anyone interested to take this man down? I heard he’s the sickest bastard on this batch and --”

Sakurai Shohei.

Nino’s head snapped up in an instant at the same time his fingers stilled on Ohno’s skin, and Ohno whipping his head around to look at Nino’s blood-stricken face. Everything seemed to slow down then, and Nino felt strangely revived all of a sudden, like every nerve in his body was awake all at the same time.

“Kazu?” Ohno called just as Nino stood up, hands raised in determination.

“Give him to me,” Nino announced, his eyes burning with rage and something that was completely unreadable. He didn’t think he would ever hear that name come up here, but since it did, Nino was just too glad he allowed Ohno to drag him here, enough to treat this day as one of his luckiest day ever.

“Sure,” the speaker threw Nino an almost award-winning grin before handing Sakurai Shohei’s 201 file towards one of his standby assistants and commanding him to hand the documents over to Nino. “I expect results by the end of this week, Ninomiya-san,”

“You got it,”

Nino grinned back, not bothering checking the target’s details since he’s got the man’s complete profile memorized from few years back. He didn’t even need to say how badly he was waiting for this day to come and now that it’s here, he’s going to fully enjoy it.

He’s going to thoroughly enjoy planning on how he was going to kill Sakurai Shohei.

He was the man who ordered his family’s murder afterall.

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the continuation of Chapter 9

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,”

“Fuck,”

“He’s not gonna wait for us, Jun,” Sho muttered from behind him, still gripping one of his arms tightly and obviously trying to act unthreatened, though it’s clearly showing in the way the rest of him was shaking that he’s scared more than he let on. “ – w-we need to – w-we need to get out of here, now!”

He knew that – he’s well aware about how he’s supposed to be making his move now but he couldn’t think; he was waiting for something – anything – but he couldn’t really think past the fear that was presently clouding his judgment, knowing that just one single wrong movement would mean danger to either his or Sho’s life.

He tightened his grip around his gun tightly, quietly uttering some wordless prayers under his breath to whoever deity was listening at the moment, to please help him keep himself alive, at least until he was sure that Sho was hidden somewhere safe where Nino could no longer reach him.

“I’m running out of patience here, J,” he heard Nino’s voice called out again, and this time he was sure that the sound was nearer than when he heard it the first time. Sho was clearly trying to muffle his whimpers, but the sound still escaped the older man’s tightly-closed mouth no matter how hard he tried reining it in. “Don’t tell me you’re just going to stay there until I get bored and just decide on burning this whole place down, because really, that’s just lame,”

Jun gritted his teeth, wildly whipping his head around in hopes of finding anything – any possible way out that he wasn’t able to check out before. But Jun knew that there was nothing, and even if there was some kind of secret opening the two of them could escape out into, he was sure they wouldn’t even manage to run ten steps outside before Nino’s quickly on his heels and running after them again.

There’re only two choices left : fight Nino and end this here, now, or chose to run for the rest of their lives without knowing whether they’d be alive long enough to figure out how to outsmart Nino and his possibly unending source of cleverness.

“Shit,” he cursed, whipping around and up when he heard a crashing sound coming from somewhere above them to stare at the ceiling, which was then collapsing in on them and pointing his gun at the same time, already seconds away from shooting the man who jumped along with the debris that were scattered all around them now; he was at least glad that he was able to stop himself shortly before firing, because he then realized that the man wasn’t who he thought he was.

It was Ohno.

“Hey, hold it!” the man quickly hissed and Jun found himself cursing roughly, equally torn between crying in relief and crying in shock when Ohno made to raise both hands up in the air as he stepped back. He kind of looked nothing like the assassin Jun pictured him to be, wearing only a pair of faded jeans and an oversized shirt tucked under his protective overcoat which bore some of the things Jun supposed he needed to either kill or rescue someone.  “Jeez, chill will you? I’m here to help, so don’t go around whipping your gun like that and shooting anyone who just came trying to keep you alive, ‘kay?”

“S-Satoshi?” Sho helpfully mumbled, eyes wide and trembling, but still coherent enough for Jun to hear, let alone comprehend. He turned to face Sho, reading the expression on the older man’s face and blinking, suddenly confused at the surprising recognition he saw through Sho’s eyes.

Ohno smirked and nodded at Sho’s direction before tipping both of them a wink and Jun realized one thing: Ohno and Sho knew each other.

“Long time, no see, Sho-kun; how have you been?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another back story! Sort of (or not) continuation of TEN

“You’re not planning on going there alone, are you?”

Nino’s smirk, Ohno figured, looked as deadly as the man himself; it took him years before he was able to interpret most of Nino’s facial expressions, but this one he was fairly sure, was the very first one he was able to unlock the day their eyes met.

Nino spared him a glance, barely missing a beat. “Why, Ohchan, are you going to stop me?” Nino asked sweetly, shoving his favorite gun into one of his duffel bag’s inner pocket before pulling himself upright and turning to wrap both hands around Ohno’s neck. Then he’s leaning in to nose at Ohno’s cheek, pressing himself flushed against Ohno’s and tickling Ohno’s skin with each warm intakes of breath.

Ohno splayed a hand down the small of Nino’s back, tilting his head enough to catch few of Nino’s tiny kisses before manfully crushing Nino’s body into an almost claustrophobic embrace and kissing Nino’s mouth hard.

“No,” Ohno replied afterwards, still mostly out of breath and still mostly against Nino’s mouth as Nino clung unto him; “because it would be stupid for anyone to try and stop you when you’re mind is already set into doing something – even if it’s impossible, dangerous and stu –“

“Killing the man responsible for my family’s murder isn’t stupid, Satoshi, and you know it!” Nino hissed, cutting Ohno’s words off at the same time he tried wriggling out of Ohno’s hold; but Ohno was, and always had been stronger than Nino, tightening his arms around the younger man and aiming an apologetic kiss against Nino’s chin.

Nuzzling Nino’s chin, he hummed and started pushing them back slowly, feeling the shiver ran all over Nino’s body when he attached his lips against Nino’s throat.

“I know,” he murmured, dragging his mouth across Nino’s collarbones and letting his fingers move down between them, cupping Nino’s erection through the rough fabric of his jeans.

“H-He was the reason, Ohchan,” Nino’s choking on the words and Ohno wished there was some way he could snatch the pain out of Nino’s heart and keep it as his own, if only to spare Nino the pain that had been prisoning Nino’s existence since then. “He was the reason why I ended up like this – why my life ended up like this – and now that I’ve been given the chance to turn the table upside down, I’m going to make sure he’ll regret leaving alive,”

Ohno knew this, had known the extent of Nino’s rage since the night he found himself listening to Nino’s drunken babbles about his life, and the little details about how Nino became like this. It hurts, in all the ways Ohno couldn’t explain and he wished he could somehow do something to help Nino, even when he knew that Nino would very much likely to decline the offer even before it was out of Ohno’s mouth.

“You know, right?” Nino mumbled, gasping sharply when Ohno proceeded on thumbing the head of the younger man’s cock despite his jeans and moaning softly when Ohno started rolling his palm delicately against Nino’s hard on.

“Yeah,” Ohno agreed, digging his teeth against Nino’s shoulder blade and biting Nino’s skin softly. “that’s why I’m not letting you go alone,”

Nino stilled against him, fingers frozen against Ohno’s hips. “W-What?”

Ohno leaned up and dropped a tender kiss against the side of Nino’s mouth.

“I am going with _you_ ,”

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter, I present you, Yama!

“Satoshi-kun –“

“Shhh, didn’t I tell you not to move? I’m almost done here,”

Sho rolled his eyes, straining to hold himself still for a little while longer though it proved to be really difficult; he could feel the muscles on his lower back throbbed painfully after about an hour and a half of practically staying still and even despite the fact that he was lying on a the softest bed cover Ohno was able to find after much digging through his mother’s closet.

“You’ve been saying that since half an hour ago, Sensei,” he grumbled mockingly, letting his gaze wander upwards to count the cracks on Ohno’s room’s ceiling if only to take his mind off of wanting to stand up and maybe whack the daylights out of Ohno for forcing him to do this – _this_ modeling thing.

He was sure he just heard Ohno chuckled, but he couldn’t really be sure, not when he wasn’t even allowed the simple luxury of tilting his head enough to scowl at Ohno for being such an asshole.

“Well, it’s your fault because you keep on moving when I already told you not to,” Ohno returned with a slight pout; Sho couldn’t help but grin. “And let me remind you that this is harder for me than it is for you, since you’re well – just lying comfortably there while I’m –“

“Can’t we at least take a break?” Sho cut in, stretching a little and grinning when Ohno murmured grumpily under his breath. “My back is already numb and I think I need to go to the bathroom,”

“I’m almost there, Sho-kun,” Ohno whined, but Sho was at least glad when he saw the older man dropped his paint brush down with an almost resigned sigh. He grinned sheepishly and rolled on his side before grabbing the bath towel draped on the back of the chair near the foot of Ohno’s bed.

It’s their last year in college and Sho – even after how many times he declined – had been summoned here to pose as one of Ohno’s model for his last term portfolio. He didn’t really know what kind of charm Ohno used on him (and possibly to those other models who already posed naked for Ohno) just to make sure he’d say yes, which he already did.

Thinking about it now, Sho wasn’t sure if he had it in him to actually refused Ohno when Sho knew how persuasive Ohno could be when he wanted to – those puppy-eyed looks and trembling small mouth had done it to him without even as much as blinking.

“Five minutes,” Sho held his five fingers up, stretching afterwards; he could hear the nitrogen on his joints popped thus he wasn’t able to hear Ohno’s quiet footsteps and just realized that the older man was already sitting beside him when a hand landed squarely on Sho’s right shoulder, finding the stiff muscles too easily and gently massaging each part expertly, carefully. “Fuck, that feels good,” Sho found himself muttering, eyes shutting closed on their own volition.

“I bet,” Ohno chuckled, rubbing Sho’s shoulder blades with both hands; Sho had all but moved to his side, lolling his head forward so as to give Ohno some more room to run his fingers along his back, pressing firmly as he goes. “Judging with the way you keep moaning like that, it’s not so hard to guess,”

Sho grunted but otherwise stayed still as Ohno’s fingers reached his lower back. “You’re not going to pay me with anything, aside maybe from a few pieces of your days old bread and expired milk, so I guess this is a much better form of compensation. You do know that models do get paid for doing things such as this, right?”

“Are you saying that I should pay you? What kind of a friend does that?”

Sho could hear the pout on Ohno’s voice without even turning round to see him. “I’m not saying you should pay me, but since you keep on whining about – ahhh! – what the hell --?” Sho spluttered, twisting around to stare at Ohno in disbelief because – wait – Ohno didn’t just –

“You want me to pay you?” Ohno asked, eyes dark and penetrating as he placed a hand at the center of Sho’s chest, pushing Sho backwards and grinning as he towered over Sho, prisoning the younger man’s frozen form beneath him.

“I.. I s-said I didn’t – I didn’t say a-anything l-like that –“ Sho stuttered, trembling when one of Ohno’s hand moved down to caress his abs, fire spreading all over him when Ohno ducked down to nip at his chin.

Ohno grinned. “Eloquent, aren’t we?” he teased, gingerly tugging the towel covering half of Sho’s body and pressing his hips firmly against Sho’s, grinning even more when Sho gasped sharply. He ducked down once again to nip at Sho’s pulse point. “What was your request again? Five minutes break and compensation for agreeing to be my model, right?”

Sho wisely didn’t say anything and just simply shook his head, biting his lips down as Ohno’s right hand found him, already half- hard and twitching.  

 

“Fine, Sho-kun,” Ohno smiled and leaned down to finally kiss Sho properly, whimpery-like sounds escaping Sho’s throat when Ohno settled comfortably on top of him.

“S-Satoshi,”

“Shhh,” Ohno hushed, crawling his way down Sho’s body, “Relax and let me do the rest,” he said, patting Sho’s hip when Sho visibly cringed.

“Breath,” Ohno commanded with a purr.

Sho couldn’t… but did as he’s told.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the continuation of Chapter Eleven

There was a long moment of stillness before Jun found himself able to breathe again, and the fact that the last person he’d expected to see at situations like these had appeared out of nowhere.

Well, he technically didn’t just came out of nowhere, but since Jun was sure that if it were him, he wouldn’t even think of literally breaking a whole apartment down just so he could show himself in front of his supposed targets. That was never his style.

Ohno on the other hand was a completely different story altogether, because as Ohno stood there, looking nothing like the assassin he ought to be, Jun thought that he’d never look at Ohno the same way ever again.

Not when Ohno had once again exceeded everyone’s expectation by coming here unannounced, barely armed and grinning like a total idiot.

“Satoshi-kun?!” Sho sputtered from beside him, and it took Jun merely a full minute before he realized who called his fellow assassin by his first name, enough to whip around to stare dumbfounded at Sho.

Ohno grinned even more. “Long time, no see, Sho-kun; how have you been?” the older man said with as much glee as a kid being presented with a mountain of gifts, stepping forward and bypassing Jun as Ohno wrapped Sho into a tight, almost claustrophobic embrace.

Jun could very well see the way Sho’s eyes fluttered close as he allowed himself to be hugged, and returning the embrace twice as fierce as Sho mumbled something incoherent against Ohno’s shoulder.

Jun gaped, feeling all dumbstruck to be properly angry when he realized how possibly well Ohno and Sho knew each other.

Okay, so he didn’t see that one coming.

 

#

Nino’s phone vibrated once and he grinned, tapping his earphone afterwards to connect the call.

It was Kame.

“Tell me,” he breathed, his voice was determinedly sharp even to his own ears as Kame bypassed the customary ‘hellos’ and went straight to the point, just like always.

“You were right,” Kame murmured from the other line, soft but firm and Nino tried hiding his anger by chuckling mirthlessly. “I had him followed as per your instruction and the Junior’s report came in just now –“

“Your minions are fucking slow, Kame,” Nino cut in cruelly, “Ohchan’s already on the move as we speak; I bet he’s got the bastards safe and secure while your stupid minions are busy fanboying over Satoshi’s many surprising talents,”

“What do you mean?”

Nino tried to act nonchalant, but the way his fingers shook against their grip on his gun was enough evidence that he’s probably minutes away from literally combusting.

“Do keep up, Kame,” he muttered instead, “When I say ‘ _Satoshi’s many surprising talents’_ , that doesn’t stop on how fucking great he is in bed but also how better he is at his job,”

“Oh,” Kame cooed.

Nino really should have paid more attention to the speaker that one time he attended one of the agency’s seminars about How To Become The World’s Best Assassins – Lesson 1012 – Patience is the Key.

“Fuck you,” he muttered as his wicked way of getting back at Kame’s obvious ploy to distract him. “And yes, Satoshi is fucking amazing in bed, and I am telling you that based from first-hand experience,” he retorted smugly.

“Good for you, then,” Kame said with a grin, then, “Is there anything you still need me for?”

Nino snorted. “Yes; I want you to make sure that Chinen-kun gets the most dangerous field job when he gets the okay from Taichi-san  – so dangerous that he wouldn’t be coming home alive afterwards,”

Kame sounded unperturbed the next time he replied. “Vengeful,” Kame commented, “Well, I told you I’d do the job myself but you told me to back off; it’s not my fault if you realized a little too late that Chinen-kun loves Ohno-san more than he loves you,”

“Fucking midget,” Nino muttered as he disconnected the call right after Kame laughed shamelessly on the other end.

Nino knew, of course, how could he not when figuring Ohno Satoshi out was as easy as breathing itself; apart from the fact that their brains were possibly connected by an invisible thread, because that’s the only logical reason as to how he could tell exactly what Ohno was thinking and doing without actually seeing him.

Most especially now, here, when he was sure Ohno was in there somewhere – possibly chatting about the fucking weather or his latest catch to Jun and to his lucky companion – Sakurai Sho.

He took his gun out from it’s hiding, cocking it noisily as he pressed his number 1 speed dial.

The call was connected after only one ring.

“Nino,”

He smirked even though he knew the other man couldn’t see him.

“Way to go, Satoshi,” he murmured as he started walking forward, eyes burning a hole at the door which was surprisingly the only remaining part of the apartment that was strong enough to still stand. “Now I’m really pissed and I hope you know what that means,”

The other man simply chuckled from the opposite end, his voice surprisingly lacked the enthusiasm it usually had when he was so into doing something, even if it meant earning Nino’s ire in the end.

“I wish I could heal it all with a kiss but I think that’s just asking for too much, right?” he said.

Nino closed his eyes for a moment and counted each passing second while Ohno murmured all the dirty things he wished to do to Nino if Nino would at least let him come home tonight.

“Save your breath for now, Ohchan,” Nino hissed as he pointed, fingers firmly gripping his gown as Ohno laughed softly on the other end. “Just make sure you’re not in there when I come because I can’t promise not to kill you too,”

Ohno, Nino thought drily as he kicked on the door, was a bastard who was only created to fuck Nino’s mind around.

“Catch me if you can, Kazu,” Ohno replied off-handedly and Nino swore under his breath. “I’ll be waiting,”

“Fuck!”

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohno Ohno Ohno Ohno. I LOVE YOU OHNO.

It’s been so long since Jun felt this way – he was so scared that even the tiniest noises was making him jumpy, enough to startle Sho who was then dozing quietly beside him.

Ohno’s nowhere to be seen, and the thought that they were left defenseless in a place Jun didn’t have any idea how they ended up in, was adding another layer of unwanted emotion settling permanently over his bones.

He hated it – he hated that he had somehow reduced to become this person who relied on others to survive because he was trained to be one. The organization had made sure each recruits were fully trained to withstand even the worst case of physical pain, to be smart and witty enough to outsmart anyone that would stand in the way of completing their mission or the simplest thing as keeping themselves alive.

It had worked for Jun for so many years, hell, he had been confident enough to go as far as working  alone because he trusted himself enough to know how to bring himself home alive after he’s done with his job, but this, this completely turned Jun’s world upside down.

And it was because Jun had allowed himself to fall for someone he knew he shouldn’t have allowed himself to fall for – and be vulnerable enough to risk both their lives in the process.

Sho shifted closer to his side as his fingers scrabbled for purchase against Jun’s shirt; the older man’s arms were wounded tightly around Jun’s waist, his face tucked firmly against the hollow of Jun’s neck, breathing deeply and as if he was inhaling Jun’s scent in.

Jun felt warm on all the places they were touching, and yet awkwardly cold inside knowing that he failed, and kept on failing on keeping Sho safe.

And there had been another thought nagging at him from the time they left the apartment, with his hand clasped on Sho’s, and Sho’s other hand was clasped tightly against Ohno’s; he knew this was no time to act like a jealous girlfriend, but for what it’s worth, seeing Sho’s face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning the moment Ohno called his name was enough to make him want to act like one.

He didn’t want to admit it, but the fact that after spending almost half of his time thinking and watching Sho as the older man slept, he kind of finally gave up and outright admitted that yes, he was fucking jealous and yes, he kind of started imagining killing Ohno the next time they saw each other.

Which was ridiculous, because he knew it was stupid to think that Sho and Ohno had been romantically involved in the past (though if they were, there was no way for Jun to know it, was there?), but judging with the way Sho and Ohno had clung unto each other, Jun knew that only a blind man couldn’t see how obviously familiar Sho and Ohno were to each other.

But still, that wasn’t reason enough to doubt Sho now, not when the older man was curled around him, pressed flush against him and never leaving his side even after Ohno had left them here with a curt ‘I will come back tomorrow, I promise, so if you could be so kind not to let anyone kill you while I’m gone, yeah? Thank you very much’ before the older man was out the door, probably to go home and make sure that Nino hadn’t opted on burning his house down in anger.

Which was probably understandable, if Jun was to be completely honest with himself.

“We should probably move to the bed,” Sho murmured softly to Jun’s neck which prompted Jun to shake himself out of his momentary daze; Sho’s warm breath was a comforting reminder that they were still together and that Sho hadn’t resolved on running away with Ohno when he thought Jun wasn’t looking.

Jun hummed but didn’t as much as moved an inch from where he was leaning back against the wall, supporting Sho with a hand splayed at the small of Sho’s back as Sho nuzzled at his collarbones.

“Jun?”

Jun looked down to find that Sho was already staring up at him, confusion and a barest hint of hurt marring his pretty face. Sho pulled back, just far enough to get his free hand up to trace Jun’s chin, and letting his thumb grazed the few days’ stubbles growing awkwardly on Jun’s skin.

Sho wouldn’t ask the question, Jun already knew that – because Sho was a stubborn man, stubborn than Jun if he wanted to be and Jun supposed he should have expected this when he started doubting Sho’s relationship with Ohno.

He felt kind of pathetic, but he guessed there was no helping it when he loved Sho so much that getting jealous over anyone who gets too close for comfort, to anyone whom Sho smiled at that wasn’t him, should have been allowed.

Jun cleared his throat as Sho slowly withdrew his fingers, but still not that far away since he had simply placed them on top of Jun’s legs. Sho was still looking at him like he already knew what Jun was thinking, and he was just waiting for Jun to ask the question out loud before he answered himself.

“You and Ohno-san,” he said, pausing to clear his thoughts once again as the corners of Sho’s mouth twitched in amusement. But he’s already there and even if he’s feeling particularly murderous about being teased (since Sho was obviously doing it in purpose), he supposed that backing out wasn’t included in his list of possible options. “ – seems to know each other very well,” he said in between gritted teeth, brows arching in annoyance when Sho couldn’t seem to rein his mirth in.

“I swear there’s jealousy in there somewhere, I just couldn’t pinpoint where,”

Jun snorted. “You’re preempting me, stop it,” he growled, twisting sideways and catching Sho’s wrist in one swift movement, and almost regretting it when Sho very clearly hissed as if he’s in pain. He loosened his hold against Sho’s wrist but didn’t let go entirely.

Sho tried tugging his hand away, wincing. “Oww,” he said with an expression resembling that of an innocent cat but this time, Jun wouldn’t allow himself to be sidetracked. Not even when Sho was looking so perfectly ready to be pounced at, with his lips pouting like that.

Jun raised an eyebrow at him. “What a baby,” he commented, then, “It’s your fault so don’t expect me to apologize,”

“And it’s my fault that you’re jealous and too much of a royal jerk to admit it?” Sho bravely asked, kneeling up properly and crossing his arms tightly over his chest. He looked defiantly over at Jun, just waiting for the younger man to verbally assault him the way he always did when he does the gesture.

But for once, Jun was speechless because then he realized that Sho was watching him just as fiercely, his gaze dark and unwavering, watching Jun intently as if there was nothing in the world that could ever mean so much to him other than the fact that Jun was here with him.

Finally, Jun looked down, quietly admitting defeat. “Sho-chan,” he murmured, wishing that Sho would be so kind to at least spare him the embarrassment by keeping his opinions to himself.

Because that look on Sho’s face was enough to make him believe, that look on Sho’s eyes told him more than he could ever hoped to hear from the older man.

“Say it,” Sho said lowly, hooking his thumb under Jun’s chin and lifting Jun’s face till their gazes met; Jun felt awfully vulnerable under Sho’s gaze and it didn’t help that Sho was acting particularly persistent as he nudged at Jun. “Let it out, for fucks’ sake, Matsumoto,” he added, brushing his knuckles gently against Jun’s cheek.

Jun shook his head. “Shut up,” he muttered, weakly turning away from Sho’s all-too-consuming stares and persistent touches because he couldn’t – it wasn’t in his nature to be vocal about these kind of things, at least if he could help it. “I’m not –“

Sho chuckled. “Jealous? You so are, so please stop denying it. It’s okay – there’s nothing wrong about feeling that way sometimes, but Jun,” Sho paused to grab Jun’s face in between his hands, trapping him till there’s nowhere else for him to look but at Sho’s eyes.

“S-Sho-chan, could you please not –“

“I love you, okay?” Sho said, cutting in, smiling fondly at Jun when Jun all but gasped at the suddenness of Sho’s words rocking his very core. “You. Not Satoshi, not anyone -- you. I know what you’re thinking, and I know there’re still a lot of things we needed to learn about each other but those can wait – all that matters is that we’re both here, alive and breathing, and _together_ ,”

“I d-don’t –“

Sho clamped a hand over Jun’s mouth, stopping him again. “One day when we’re both freed from all these, I promise I will tell you everything, but for now, please, I’m begging you, be here with me because you don’t know how scared I am that you’re here but you’re not at all here; I know you’re doubting me and Satoshi – don’t – because there’s nothing between us. He was a friend, but we have lost contact since graduation and meeting him again in this kind of situation is kind of awkward, not to mention, odd.”

Jun was mentally smacking himself but at least he had refrained himself from opening his mouth and further humiliating himself as Sho continued where he left off.

“So don’t you ever think that there’s anywhere I’d rather be than here with you, that there’s anyone I would rather spend my days with if not with you, because as I’ve said before, I love you – and I have no intention of taking that back just because -- ”

It was enough.

“You talk too much,” Jun grumbled with a hiss, cutting Sho’s words off as he stumbled forward to mash their mouths together; he found out that he didn’t care much about Sho’s past, not after Sho’s mushy speech (which he gladly wouldn’t want to repeat, oh god).

Sho’s hands went to his hair, pulling him in and kissing him back just as fiercely. Jun gave up wondering and simply tilted his head, finding a perfect angle as their mouths met again, and again.

He was panting hard when Sho allowed him to resurface, enough to breath in some air.

His hand still wrapped around Sho’s neck, he whispered,

“That offer about moving to the bed still stands?”

Sho growled. “No, not anymore,” he hissed, pushing Jun onto his back. “ – you had your chance..” he said, fingers moving to apparently divest Jun out of his clothes.

“Sho,”

Sho shook his head, grabbing Jun by the hips and turning him over.

“On your hands and knees, Matsumoto,” Sho commanded darkly.

Jun obeyed.

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is exactly what happened on Chapter 14, on Ohno’s end.

Ohno knew that by helping Jun and Sho, he’d most probably end up either dead or invalid, given the unimaginable amount of rage Nino’s silently nursing since he realized what Ohno’s been up to.

Ohno had his reasons, and those reasons were valid enough to be warranted the attention he’d freely given, not to mention the fact that he’s doing it all for Nino.

He realized the dangers of going against one of the Organization’s most wicked assassin even before he decided it, but he knew it’d be worth all the things he was willing to sacrifice in the end.

Ohno hadn’t known the extent of his feelings for Nino until Nino brought the matter up that night he signed up for the job, telling Ohno stupid things like his apparent willingness to die just to avenge his family’s death. Ohno felt like he’d been stabbed in the chest then, furiously tugging Nino by the arms and shoving him down the bed before covering Nino’s body with his own. Ohno realized then that he was in so deep, his emotions spilling in waves as he stared right into Nino’s eyes while he fucked him slow.

There were things -- reasons why he chose to do what he’s doing, even if it felt like he’s literally stabbing Nino on the back – reasons that Ohno might not, at least not yet, be able to tell the younger man but he wished Nino would be willing to listen once he got the chance to pin Nino down to talk. There was nothing he would ever want than to make sure he stops Nino from making the biggest mistake of his life by killing Sakurai Sho.

And Ohno was not doing this simply to amuse himself, of course not, he’s not that stupid, but because his reasons were far more ideal than that. He didn’t want to admit it, but since learning the truth about Nino’s birth, Ohno thought that he couldn’t just stay quiet and let Nino waste his life, their future together because of his desire for revenge.

It was the Organization’s head and founder, Johnny-san, who was the reason why Ohno’s hell bent on stopping Nino.

Everything had been a blurry mess since he found out why Johnny-san himself had personally sought him to do one thing he never dared ask anyone, most especially ordering one of the Organization’s top-level assassins to stop his fellow assassin from doing the kill.

It was still pretty much blurry but Ohno no longer had the luxury to plan things over when Nino’s brain was wired far differently, and the fact that Nino was probably just waiting for the perfect time to execute his lifelong desire of killing everyone involved in the murder of his family.

The details were collected neatly (and discreetly, the same way Johnny-san had called Ohno in), filed in the big brown envelop Johnny-san had placed in front of Ohno that day when he summoned Ohno to his office; the Organization’s big boss didn’t even bother with explanations, and simply pointed at the envelop before telling Ohno that ‘ _if you want to keep your little affair with Ninomiya as hassle-free as ever, stop him from killing Sakurai Shohei and his family_ ’ in a tone that brooked no argument, and then shooing Ohno out the door two minutes after.

Ohno hadn’t had the time or the courage to call Nino right after he’s done scanning the documents over, shivering all by himself learning about the truth surrounding Nino’s life.

He wasn’t going to let Nino do this, would make sure that he’s always one step ahead of everything just to make sure Nino wasn’t going to slip in and do the kill when he wasn’t looking; he couldn’t afford losing his focus, because he knew that it would mean losing either of the two he was trying to protect.

Right then and there, Ohno’s mind was set into stopping Nino no matter what it takes.

#

 

He knew that Kame was tailing his ass ever since he left his and Nino’s apartment, was well aware that Kame had sent a few of those newly-recruited kids to follow him wherever he go, but Kame didn’t know, or possibly wasn’t aware that it had been Ohno’s job to train every single soul the Organization was able to recruit every fucking day.

Well, he couldn’t really blame Kame, since not everyone knew this, not even Nino, to whom he’s been living with for the past couple of years now.

He sighed when he remembered Chinen-kun, one of the youngest recruit, and whom Kame deliberately bullied to follow Ohno’s every move; he didn’t know if he was going to thank the gods for such timely coincidence, remembering the way Chinen had solemnly pledged his lifetime allegiance to Ohno.

He chuckled, shaking his head as he tightened his grip against Sho’s hand in his while he swore that Jun was currently busy digging an imaginary hole at the back of his head. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he quickly whipped around, placing a finger over his mouth as Sho and Jun stopped dead on their tracks.

He tapped his specially-designed Leader Bluetooth (courtesy of Aiba) without tearing his gaze away from Jun’s protective hold around Sho’s waist.

“Chinen-kun,” he murmured, blinking. The boy on the other end replied automatically, words spilling in an almost steady precision while Ohno nodded to himself. “Out front or --?” he asked, pausing to watch as Jun very deliberately turned Sho around to face him, and dropped a tiny kiss against the corner of Sho’s jaw. Ohno mentally rolled his eyes and turned his back, letting the other two enjoy their ‘ _Romeo and Juliet_ ’ time, at least for now.

“Out front, Ohno-san, but there are probably five more around the perimeter, waiting for you to come out; and I believe that Ninomiya-san is on the phone with Kame-san as we speak,” Chinen confirmed with the grace of a baby tiger waiting in a corner to pounce on his approaching dinner; Ohno smirked, feeling rather proud of himself for having been given the privilege to train such fine young man. He mentally patted himself on the back as Chinen murmured about an incoming call from Kame and Ohno muttered his thanks, ready to let Chinen go but not before,

“Three weeks off for you, Chinen-kun; go to that place I told you about to pick up everything you’ll be needing, your passport and flight itinerary, and make sure no one knows where you are, except me. Do not take calls from anyone, not even from this number, do you understand? I’ll send you the details on how you can contact me in case of emergency. Is that clear?” he said, briefing the younger one who was, for once, completely silent save from the sound of his quiet breathing. “Answer me, Chinen-kun,”

There was a brief moment before he heard Chinen’s low mumble of ‘ _Yes, Ohno-san’_ and Ohno tapped his Bluetooth, ending the call.

He turned back around just in time to see the other two exchanging sweet nothings and Ohno tried his hardest not to chuckle; now’s not the time.

“We have to move, lovebirds,” he exclaimed, grabbing at Sho’s elbow and completely ignoring the way Jun’s gaze turned murderous; he would have commented on it but then again, now’s not the time. “Hang on tight, babes, coz we’re going for a dive,” he exclaimed before crouching down, almost taking Sho with him as he “planted” Aiba’s gift to the floor  – ‘the seed’, as what the taller man opted to call it --  two steps away from where they were standing, but not before asking Sho and Jun to stand closer to him at the same time he produced a normal-looking cardboard and setting it down beneath their feet. The pear-shaped device,  after having been ‘planted’ glowed a pretty-looking shade of purple as it mysteriously produced tiny legs, locking themselves against the cream-coloured tiled floor before the ground slowly cracked, startling Jun and Sho who were hovering over Ohno’s back and watching Ohno worked.

Ohno quickly took out another one of Aiba’s specially-made marker pen, drawing around the edges of the cardboard; the edges slowly melted and Ohno was again impressed by how awesome Aiba’s inventions were, including this.

The cardboard changed from its normal form to a very sleek-looking skateboard; Ohno humped onto it, tugging Jun and Sho with him. “Come on, ladies,” he said, excitement pounding hard through his ears. He whipped out a tiny remote, pressing it and watched as the ‘seed’ below them whizzed, it’s colors changing from purple to red, then to blue and yellow.

He looked back to see Jun wrapping both arms around Sho’s body. “Is that one of Aiba-chan’s ---?”

Ohno nodded and watched as the seed turned deep green, before the ground slowly opened and he vaguely registered hearing Sho’s squeaks when the skateboard miraculously produced three pairs of iron clamps, clasping their feet securely to the skateboard.

“What the hell –?!” Jun cursed and Ohno waved a hand at him, his phone vibrating again.

He kind of knew who the caller was this time. The ground started crumbling beneath their feet as Sho continued squeaking behind him, fingers finding Ohno’s elbows as the ground literally swallowed them whole.

“Nino,” he crooned, vaguely hearing Nino cursed at the same time.

“Way to go, Satoshi,” Nino muttered, “Now I’m really pissed and I hope you know what that means,”

Ohno held on to the fact that he meant more to Nino than what Nino wanted him to believe, that the younger man, like him, was willing to give his own life if it meant saving Ohno’s own. 

He braced himself as they slowly descend to the ground.

“Catch me if you can, Kazu,” he slipped in quickly, “I’ll be waiting,” he followed, vaguely hearing Nino curse as he ended the call.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a very short chapter but this is definitely my favorite! Why? Read on XD

Ohno had kept the envelop hidden, not exactly knowing what he would do to it and the many surprising things it brought along with it. He’s surprised he even managed to get home without a hitch, when his fingers had been twitching to grab his phone and call Nino right then and there while he’s on his way home.

He couldn’t also believe how he managed to gather the other missing information in just a span of three hours, and connecting the dots himself immediately afterwards.

Somehow, he was thankful for the Organization’s vast connections because he was able to get everything he needed with just a few clicks on his laptop and placing a couple of phone calls. However, he didn’t expect things to be this complicated when he finally got everything placed right in front of his face.

Fact of life: Expect the unexpected.

He wasn’t averse to a few life-threatening disappointments himself for he would not end up killing people for a living if his first career-choice had been successful. Hell, it was tough really, but in the end he knew he didn’t regret a single thing. This was his life now, and then later on sharing his most intimate times with Nino had been the best that came out of all these.

But now, something was threatening to take everything away from him and if he wouldn’t act fast, he knew he’d lose the one thing that made living a whole lot better than it used to be.

He was awakened from his quiet ponderings when his phone vibrated in his pocket, signaling an incoming call. He peeked into the caller ID and quickly tapped the screen, connecting the call.

“Anything new?” he asked once the call was connected, reaching over to gather the papers into a neat pile before shoving them hastily inside the envelope. There was a sound of some shuffling on the other end and the man murmuring ‘ _Hang on’_ ; Ohno waited patiently as he tugged the paper tucked on the very middle, the paper containing the details surrounding that of Nino’s birth.

It wasn’t the first time he’d seen it but it still brought him the shivers whenever he would see the truth written clearly on it.

“Tell me, Yoko,” he muttered impatiently. The guy on the other end simply chuckled and told him to loosen up a bit. He snorted.

“I don’t know why you needed this info but, oh well, who cares, right? I bet you only wanted to background check your precious Nino before you two run off together and get marry,” Yoko supplied teasingly, but Ohno was too busy trying not to curse Yokoyama’s clan to destruction to be properly listening to Yoko’s attempt at humoring himself.

But Yoko stopped to possibly give way to another of his girly giggles, and Ohno snapped. “Keep up with that and I’ll make sure you’d get send to Afghanistan on your next assignment, Yu,”

“Spoilsport,” Yoko commented drily, and then, “Fine, here’s my report, Sir,” he said; Ohno promptly straightened up to listen. “Hmm, okay, so I don’t know what importance this fact holds but –“ he paused and Ohno held his breath.

“ – it seemed like Ninomiya-san’s mother was one of Sakurai Shohei’s former mistresses,”

 _There you go_ , Ohno thought, the missing piece of the puzzle – the missing dot on the series of dots he had been trying to connect since he left Johnny-san’s office. He stared at the paper in his hand, eyes trained on the name opposite that of Nino’s mother’s name.

Fucking irony, it’s what this is, and Ohno was done being baffled by all these.

Sakurai Shohei was Nino’s biological father – and that goes without saying that he and Sakurai Sho were half-brothers.

Damn. It.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the end is near.

Ohno knew, down to his last struggling attempt to keep Jun and Sho safe, that Nino would later on go after him. Jun had wisely commented on the matter even before he had stubbornly resigned himself to earning Nino’s ire in the end just because he’s too stupid to even considering sitting Nino down to talk like how normal people would.

Instead, he did this; going against Nino behind his back and feeling both excited and awful about the whole thing even.

He noticed he was already standing at the back entrance of their apartment when their neighbor’s cat mewled from somewhere he couldn’t see, reaching behind his back pocket and shaking himself out of daze when he realized he had lost his spare key again. He crouched down almost on autopilot, pressing his fingers along the concrete step and grinning absently when his palms found the familiar bump; he used his pinky nail (it was long enough to dig under the concrete’s crack) and flipped the square concrete before taking the spare keycard out from there.

It had been Nino’s idea to leave spare keys behind since he knew Ohno’s ability to lose about everything he possessed. Nino had joked about how awfully lucky Nino felt sometimes that Ohno hadn’t forgotten about Nino yet.

Ohno never really got the chance to answer Nino, not that he didn’t want to since it had been their unspoken agreement never to jump over the line of snappiness when neither of them was drunk enough to forget ever saying anything about it the next morning, but also because he trusted that Nino knew.

It hadn’t been easy living together, but he wouldn’t have it any other way since he experienced the joys of spending his days with Nino. But now, he was afraid he was going to lose all of it.

He made his way towards the back alley, stopping just in front of the apartment block’s back entrance and pushing at the steel door with a little difficulty. The door creaked at the motion and he mentally noted about going back here to fix the door itself the first thing tomorrow morning. That is, if Nino’s not going to be an overbearing brat tonight, enough to get out of the apartment alive.

Three stairs up and he could already see the front door of their apartment, willing himself not to entertain the idea of throwing himself back where he came from the minute he opened the door; he’s not sure whether Nino would take his threats seriously, enough to think of planting a time bomb against their poor apartment’s door knob. He had to literally convince himself out loud that Nino wouldn’t do that, because as far as he knew, Nino’s fondness over their elderly neighbors would be the first thing to stop Nino from wanting to burn the whole apartment down, and he’s convinced that no matter how badly Nino hated him at the moment, Nino still wouldn’t go for the obvious kill.

But then again, he’s not Nino, and Nino’s mind worked 360 degrees of the opposite so he couldn’t really be sure; besides, if it was him, he’s probably plotting the most painful ways on how to kill Nino with his bare hands.

Heaving a final deep breath, Ohno swiped the spare keycard over their door’s lock mechanism, stepping back unconsciously as the door opened automatically. He wouldn’t say that he’d been holding his breath until the door fully opened without fuzz and he stepped inside the apartment, feeling slightly woozy.

So of course, he should have anticipated walking into the devil’s trap even before his consciousness realized it.

Because one moment the apartment was drowning in darkness that the only light filtering through the window came from the brightly-lit lamp right across the street and then the next time Ohno blinked, all the lights were on as if they hadn’t even turned off in the first place.

Ohno blinked the sudden brightness away, grunting to himself as he rubbed his eyes with his fingers; when he could finally able to focus his eyes again, he realized with no amount of surprise to see Nino sitting primly on their couch, staring at him intently.

“You’re late,” Nino muttered from across the room, looking mighty fine and so very ready to pounce at Ohno, his arms crossed defensively over his chest. “You were supposed to be here hours ago, care to tell me why?” Nino asked with the barest hint of annoyance he must have intentionally injected on his tone, leaning back against the couch and looking the least affected that Ohno was trying his hardest not to smile in return.

He knew this game, hell, they both do but to be the first one to give in would mean trouble, and Ohno had a lot to cover up for now to even think of pissing Nino off more than he already did.

“Oh, you know, work,” he said, matter-of-factly, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly as he started walking towards the living room, and making a quick work on his shoes before he did.  Nino remained quiet on his seat and simply watched Ohno’s movement. “I’ve been stuck in an assignment where it needed my personal appearance, and it’s kind of taking up all my time –“

His words were caught in his throat when he suddenly found himself backed against the nearest wall, and Nino’s hands gripping the collar of his shirt, with Nino’s face barely an inch away from his and Nino’s eyes burning a hole on his face.

“Cut the bullshit, Satoshi and just fucking tell me why the hell you’re doing this,” Nino hissed through clenched teeth, his grip never losing their strength against Ohno’s. Ohno had been preparing for this moment, where he could just look into Nino’s eyes and tell him exactly what he needed to know.

But still, it didn’t help that Nino looked like he was seconds away from smashing Ohno’s head against the wall and Ohno guessed he couldn’t blame him, not really.

Ohno let out a tiny smile and Nino was immediately pushing against him, his head rocking back against the hard wall with a loud thud. “Kazu,”

Nino shoved him hard, yelling. “Just fucking tell me!”

He felt the stinging pain down to the ends of his hair but he ignored it, instead, he twisted inside Nino’s grip and brought his hands up, closing his hands around Nino’s arms.

“You need to calm down, Kazu,” he breathed, feeling Nino’s body trembling against him as the younger man pressed him back against the wall with another angry shove. “Calm down or you won’t be able to understand,”

Nino gritted his teeth. “What I don’t understand is why the hell you’re helping those people when you know exactly how long I’ve been waiting to kill them myself! You, of all people, Ohchan!”

Ohno shook his head, stroking Nino’s arms even though there’s just little chance of Nino ever letting him go. “Believe me, you don’t want to do that, Kazu. Just let me explain first, then after that, you decide,”

Nino’s eyes were wild and his mouth was set on a thin line, and Ohno knew then that Nino’s barely giving him the chance to convince the younger man that killing him right now wasn’t the best option and that listening was the key. Ohno’s banking on the fact that Nino knew him well enough to give the chance, no matter how slim it was, to convince Nino to listen, at least for now.

He brought one of his hand to the back of Nino’s neck, curling his fingers along the curve of Nino’s nape and pulling Nino’s face against his; Nino choked wordlessly, his grip against Ohno’s shirt loosening visibly.

“How the hell will I ever understand the reason why you want me to stop going after the people who ruined my life, huh, Ohchan?” Nino muttered, a tad softer, gentle even, his eyes closed as he murmured the words almost directly against Ohno’s mouth.

Ohno reached up to stroke Nino’s cheek, his chest swelling with emotions he couldn’t place a name on as Nino wordlessly reacted to the touch. Nino looked so small, so vulnerable, and Ohno wished he could make this right, for Nino.

“You just have to trust me on this, Kazu,” he mumbled back, leaning over to place a gentle kiss against the corners of Nino’s mouth.

“I don’t… I c-can’t,” Nino muttered back, miserable and hurt, and Ohno wanted to blame himself for all the things that hurt Nino, even when the only thing he wanted was to keep Nino safe, keep him happy. “P-Please?” Nino begged without actually continuing, fingers gripping Ohno’s shirt like a lifeline.

“You only need to give me at least a few minutes of your time to explain to you why, Kazu,” he grumbled, feeling the way the rest of Nino slipping away through his fingers, because Nino was stubborn and he was too damn hard-headed to even try and act like a submissive lover but Ohno guessed he should be used to it by now. Still, he had to convince Nino even if it’s the last thing he’d ever have to do.

“Explain what, exactly? That you’re favoring those bastards instead of siding with me?!”

Ohno felt the urge to tackle Nino to the ground and pin him there just to make sure he wouldn’t be able to get away this time. But it’s difficult when Nino still wouldn’t accept defeat, or even the slightest idea of giving in to someone when he’d already set his mind into doing something.

“Kazu, please?”

Nino twitched but otherwise stayed pressed firmly against him and Ohno could tell that Nino was trying not to hit him upside the head. Nino was breathing hard, trying to calm himself down while Ohno moved his hand down the small of his back, stroking Nino soothingly there.

“Okay, okay,” Nino said, finally, pulling back just far enough to look Ohno properly in the eyes. “Ten minutes, Ohchan; I’m only giving you ten minutes to convince me, and if you’re not able to do that, I’m out of here. And I don’t care if you’re hiding them inside your boxers – I don’t care if you’re hell bent on protecting them, because the next time I find them, I’m not letting them get away. I’m going to kill them, and I don’t care if you’re –“

“Do that and I’m sure you won’t ever be able to forgive yourself, ever,” Ohno said, cutting Nino off, fingers moving up to grab at Nino’s elbow.

Nino looked unconvinced, but the slight twitch of his mouth told Ohno that he’s got Nino’s attention, fucking finally.

“Excuse me?”

Ohno smile knowingly, reached out to stroke Nino’s cheek softly. “I can’t believe you still hasn’t realize that you’re not your father’s son, Kazu,”

Nino whipped his head up, staring up at Ohno with wide, wide eyes.

“What in hell are _you_ talking about?”


	19. Run, Chinen, Run!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If there was one thing Kame hated most, it was to have someone telling him what he should and not do, leading him around by the nose and bullying him into doing something he would gain nothing out of, except maybe for a few numbers of unwanted enemies and another trip to the Organization’s private hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking of putting this up as an interlude. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy.

 

 

If there was one thing Kame hated most, it was to have someone telling him what he should and not do, leading him around by the nose and bullying him into doing something he would gain nothing out of, except maybe for a few numbers of unwanted enemies and another trip to the Organization’s private hospital.

But for all it’s worth, he didn’t think that giving in to Ninomiya’s ‘requests’ fell into that category, simply because (no matter how much he denied it) he liked the man’s guts probably as much as he loathed his (dirty and most of the times twisted) ways of persuading anyone into doing anything in his favor. He’d been one of those unfortunate few who had fallen prey to the ‘ _what Ninomiya wants, Ninomiya gets’_ strategy and without so much as exerting effort on Nino’s part. Still, it didn’t make the situation a lot less irritating knowing that Nino had the balls to actually go down on his knees (if he felt like it) and made anyone promise him the world when it wasn’t a secret then that Nino’s already in a bizarre relationship with one of their pioneer agents, Ohno Satoshi. 

Point of fact was, Ohno didn’t seem to mind his partner screwing around (although come to think of it, Kame was sure that no one among those who shamelessly admitted to being Nino’s personal bitches had mentioned about Nino performing anything aside from amazing handjobs, and if lucky, blowjobs) and Ninomiya seemed to be always perfectly comfortable at parading around and brandishing his sinful self the next day, wrapped around Ohno like a clinging koala and practically slapping whoever he was screwing with the day before in the face that he was just playing around.

Kame had been watching Nino so closely that he was able to pin down most of Nino’s intentions, including the ones Nino never mentioned aloud, including the reason behind Nino’s obvious desire to wipe Sakurai Shohei’s family off the face of the planet.

But then again, there was Nino’s personal albatross -- the one thing that kept Nino on his toes, the one thing that kept Nino from completely transforming into someone he feared he would become because of the hatred he’d been nursing since childhood.  

Kame hadn’t realized how closely he’d been watching Nino that it almost became an obsession – something he would never, ever dare admit, not even in his grave.

Well, maybe he could; but only to someone whom he was sure wouldn’t be able to talk back, ever.

He shook his head as he made his way out of the vacant building where he spent almost half of the night choking the answers out of Nino’s lover’s favorite boy, Chinen, and remembering the way the boy clung unto his remaining strength like a good little assassin. He smirked and pocketed the rest of the serum he stole from the lab yesterday morning, and feeling slightly disappointed that Chinen didn’t even as much as budge when he injected the new recruit with it, the way he supposed he should.

 _Must be the result of Ohno’s training_ , he mused, grinning widely at the memory of Chinen’s fear-stricken face when he whispered his intentions through the younger man’s ear, almost laughing out loud in victory when Chinen all but gave out a full body shiver and started shedding tears for his beloved Ohno sensei.

_“I admire your strength, Chinen-kun,” Kame had said, reaching over to tap Chinen’s nose with the tips of his finger, and the boy struggling to keep his eyes open despite of the blood oozing from somewhere around his temple, the streak of dark red blocking his vision. “But come on, I don’t have all night for this. Tell me where Ohno-san hid those two star-crossed lovers so we can go home already,”_

_Chinen had grunted in response, wriggling weakly against the tight rope holding him down and hissing a curse under his breath when Kame poked him on the face some more. “Stubborn, aren’t we? Well, do keep that up and I swear, I might just use that barely-used technique we learned from Torture 101,”_

_Chinen had simply let out a laugh, even though he was clearly hissing in pain and his eyes were swelling like a pair of freshly baked muffins; that only made Kame angrier than he already was, but at least he was able to keep himself from quickly hooking an arm around Chinen’s neck and strangled the fuck out of the kid for he knew he still needed him alive. He’s a professional, and he knew just how to handle himself and his emotions enough to keep himself from killing Chinen on the spot._

_Instead, he leaned over Chinen, near enough that their noses almost bumped against one another and Kame grinned, all evil smile and crooked teeth. But Chinen looked overly confident when he muttered,_

_“If you think I’m afraid to die, then you better think again, Kamenashi-san,” the little prick had said, all firm gaze and steady voice. “ – I was trained exactly the way you were trained, and not because you were recruited and trained and had been sent on to do field work doesn’t mean you’re better than me, because you’re not,”_

_Kame was speechless for a moment as he stared down at the younger boy’s face in disbelief; Chinen’s expression was cold and his eyes even colder, but Kame wasn’t one of Organization’s most promising recruit if he didn’t know how to read his target perfectly._

_And Chinen wasn’t even that hard to read no matter how tough the boy pretended to be._

_“Fair enough, boy,” Kame agreed, eyebrows raising as he settled a hand over Chinen’s shoulder and leaning over again to ghost his words through Chinen’s ear. “ – but as much as I love hearing you boast about your apparent awesomeness, we’re here not because of that; we’re here because I need to know the location of Ninomiya-san’s targets and since I’m sure you were the only person Ohno-san asked to help him hide those two dickheads, I was asked to find you,”_

_Chinen chuckled. “I didn’t know you were enlisted as one of Ninomiya-san’s bitch, Kamenashi-san,” the younger man said in such mocking way that made Kame’s blood boiled through his veins, his hand quickly moving to deliver a stinging slap across Chinen’s face before he could even stop himself. Though wincing, Chinen still had the grace to look mighty smug._

_“You’re testing my patience, boy,” Kame muttered as he went back to where he stashed his bag about an hour ago, retrieving the truth serum with a smirk._

_“I didn’t know you have one,” Chinen answered; Kame uttered a curse under his breath. “I thought you only know how to talk, you know, like how Ninomiya-san is –“_

_“You fucking shut your mouth or I swear to god, I’m going to end you in the most painful way ever, bury your body someplace that not even your stupid Ohno will be able to find you,” he gritted, turning around to tap the syringe in front of Chinen and grinning stupidly when Chinen very clearly trembled in his seat._

_“Do that, I dare you,”_

_“You’re acting brave, I like that,” Kame breathed and grinned some more as he strode forward, eyes locked on Chinen’s face. “But you know, we’re just the same, you and me; I do whatever Ninomiya asked me to but so are you; we’re both somebody else’s little bitch, but you know what’s the only difference between us?” Chinen’s eyes were wide as he took the remaining few steps towards him, and Kame’s eyes burned with something he knew Chinen was able to realize even before Kame’s words slipped out of his mouth._

_“Y-You’re –“_

_“Yes, boy,” Kame answered, leaning in forward to push the sleeves of Chinen’s shirt and gripping the younger boy’s shoulder as he aimed the syringe at exactly the same spot where he rubbed his thumb against a few seconds ago. “The difference between us is that I am not willing to die for Nino -- but I will kill for him; I will kill whoever he wants me to kill, finish the job he wants me to finish; and since you and Nino’s idiot lover are the two main reasons he’s upset right now, I am going to kill you two and then I will find Sakurai and kill him too,”_

_Chinen looked up at him then, his eyes betraying the rest of him and Kame knew he’d won this round, most especially when he hadn’t even managed a few steps back and Chinen was already in tears, lips quivering when he whispered,_

_“P-Please,” he said, “I’ll tell you everything, just please, l-leave Ohno-san alone,”_

 Kame grinned as he slipped quietly inside his car, mentally counting the numbers as he inserted the the key and started the car. He retrieved his phone and quickly tapped out a mail, grinning to himself as the numbers in his head dwindled down.

… 2 1

And the building exploded at exactly the same time he sent his message to Nino.

 

_Date : 17 January 2013_  
 _Sender : KK_  
 _Receiver : KN_  
 _Subject : Revelations_  
 _Message :_

_I know where they are, I’m going there now; mail me if you want the location and I’ll meet you there._  
  
 _PS. I think I accidentally killed your boyfriend’s guard dog, so I apologize for the mess. But I’m not sorry that I killed him; he deserved it._  



	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They’re exhausted beyond words, but for the first time since that night Jun took Sho with him, it was the good kind of exhaustion. They have spent the majority of the past hour making love, clinging unto each other’s body like they were afraid the other would disappear if either of them loosened their hold against one another.

They’re exhausted beyond words, but for the first time since that night Jun took Sho with him, it was the good kind of exhaustion. They have spent the majority of the past hour making love, clinging unto each other’s body like they were afraid the other would disappear if either of them loosened their hold against one another.

They were on their sides, facing each other; Sho’s fingers were tangled through Jun’s thick hair, and Jun had kept one arm thrown over Sho’s waist, stroking the small of Sho’s back as they stared at each other’s eyes, breathing each other in. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so utterly relaxed since he met Sho, let alone putting his guard down only to bask on the afterglow of having been loved by the older man after so many weeks of being on the run.

“Hey,” Sho whispered with a gentle nudge and Jun realized he was dozing off, and Sho’s fingers tightened around his nape when he looked up to offer Sho a sleepy smile; “ – tired?” Sho asked with a playful smile and Jun chuckled, pinching Sho’s thigh in response to Sho’s quiet giggle.

“I wonder why,” he said, forcing back a yawn but wasn’t able to, scooting closer to hide his face under Sho’s chin and simply holding the older man closer, tighter. “I think it’s someone’s fault since I had to work very hard by myself when that someone was only lying on his back, doing nothing.”

He felt Sho’s body shook with the force of his giggles and he wasn’t able to keep himself from pinching the older man again in retaliation.

“I didn’t know you needed help,” Sho chuckled through his hair, his breath was warm and his hold around Jun was nothing but comforting. “ – because you sure looked like you were enjoying yourself then, what with the way you were bouncing up and down on me and –“

“Sho-chan, you do know I own a gun, right? Aside from the fact that I am an Assassin by profession and that I am perfectly capable of killing you without blinking,”

“Is that a threat, because really, I don’t think you’d ever dare try that Assassin crap on me –“

Jun bit his lips to keep himself from grinning but found out it was highly difficult, most especially when he was being held by Sho like this, like Sho was afraid he’d run away any moment if he as much as loosen his hold around him.

“Confident, aren’t we?” he breathed against Sho’s neck, content and sated and so many other things he only felt when he’s with Sho. Somehow he was reduced to being this person he never imagined he would be before meeting Sho, but he couldn’t really find it in him to regret a single decision he ever made knowing that he did it all for Sho.

Sho laughed, high tinkling sounds that made Jun’s chest clench in the most awesome ways possible; he didn’t know it was possible for him to feel this happy, to be this contented just lying beside someone so different from him but he was, and he’s pretty sure that Sho was too.

He shifted closer to the older man until they were touching from head to toe, curling his fingers behind Sho as Sho continued pressing small kisses on top of his head. He sighed deeply and settled comfortably with one hand over Sho’s chest, just below Sho’s collarbones, pressing his palm there and enjoying the way he was able to feel Sho’s steady heartbeat beneath his palm.

He startled when Sho shifted a bit to worm an arm under him, hands moving down to place along the curve of his hips and murmured, “I am,” he said and Jun realized belatedly that Sho was still referring to his earlier comment and smiling around a yawn when Sho’s hold around him tightened a bit more.

“I bet you are,” he mused, sleepy and warm because they were laying so close together that it almost felt claustrophobic, but Sho was comfortable and he didn’t really mind this closeness, not at all. “It’s so obvious and I don’t even have to look at you to know that you are radiating with so much confidence that it’s almost unbecoming,” he commented with a shrug.

“Was I wrong then?” Sho huffed, clearly unperturbed that they were obviously discussing sappy things when they’re supposed to be resting, or fucking amiably – whichever was better, rather than engaging in this kind of conversation that would only mean embarrassment for either one of them in the end (which was usually him).

He sighed but otherwise stayed where he was, face still buried against the crook of Sho’s neck. “Wrong about what, exactly?”

“With being confident,” Sho replied, almost like a low whisper and he felt something clenched a little painfully inside him, like he instantly hated it when Sho used that kind of tone, like Sho still couldn’t believe that he loved him so much he was willing to give his own fucking life just for Sho. “Am I wrong for assuming that you love me as much as I –“

“No,” he quickly retorted, cutting Sho’s words off and clearly saving them both the embarrassment he was sure he’d have to endure for the rest of the night – or week, god forbid – before he pulled a bit away, just enough so he could reach up to place a gentle, almost apologetic kiss against the side of Sho’s mouth, before going back to hide his face under Sho’s chin. “ – you have all the right to be confident because there’s no one else I would rather be with but you, Sho-chan;  and I swear if you mention this ever again, I will end you with your own shoelaces because you and your big mouth deserved it,”

Sho huffed, sounding smug and fond beyond words as he returned to nuzzling the older man’s throat. “Better think twice before you do that because I’m sure you’d end up regretting it – killing me and my big mouth, that is,”

He chuckled. “And why is that?”

“Because you see, my big mouth isn’t only useful for sensible talking, but I also put it to good use, such us putting your co –“

“Sho Sakurai, you watch your big mouth before I kill you!” he yelled, pushing at Sho’s chest, their combined laughter echoed through the four corners of the room.

#

“Do that and I’m sure you won’t be able to forgive yourself, ever,” Ohno said, cutting Nino off, fingers moving up to grab at Nino’s elbow.

Nino looked unconvinced, but the slight twitch of his mouth told Ohno that he’s got Nino’s attention, fucking _finally._

“Excuse me?”

Ohno smile knowingly, reached out to stroke Nino’s cheek softly. “I can’t believe you still hasn’t realize that you’re not your father’s son, Kazu,”

Nino whipped his head up, staring up at Ohno with wide, wide eyes.

“What in hell are you talking about?” Nino hissed, confusion evident in the way his lips was quivering as he stared at Ohno, and pissed beyond words like he was still torn between killing Ohno and leaving him to follow Kame as soon as possible. His phone was still vibrating in his pocket and Ohno’s immediate silence was what prompted him to reach down to take his phone out, tapped the blinking message and read it with a renewed glint in his eyes.

“Kazu,” Ohno murmured, hands closing around his elbows when he drew away, Ohno’s fingers slipping when he pulled back to focus his attention into shoving his guns back to his neglected bag; he heard the tell-tale sounds of Ohno shuffling closer behind him until he felt Ohno’s arms wounding around him, strong and firm as Ohno pressed his lips against the back of his nape.

“Your ten minutes is up, Satoshi,” he murmured, squaring his jaw and reminding himself to be firm, to not let Ohno’s ministration stopped him yet again from doing what he supposed he should have done weeks ago. “And I’m sorry but I have to go, I have a job to complete and you are keeping me from doing my job properly. Now let me go or I’ll make you,”

Ohno stubbornly refused to, tugging him back up and attaching his lips against the underside of his ear, sucking that particular spot with apparently renewed urgency; other times he would give in, but not this time, not when he’s this close to fulfilling his lifelong desire of getting back at those people who had made his life miserable.  

Ohno’s hold became tighter, his kisses turned even messier and Nino only had a brief moment to decide whether he’d let Ohno have his way on him again, enough for him to forget his mission for a little while longer; but he’d known Ohno long enough to realize that he was only doing this to distract him, and Nino knew it would take him another week or so to find Sho and Jun if he let this go now.

He wriggled against Ohno’s hold, pushed at the older man until Ohno was left with nothing but to loosen his hold around Nino and allowed Nino to turn around, facing him.

“Kazu, please,” Ohno grumbled, and in other times Nino would have laughed at him for making such pitiful expression, but for now, he had more important things to attend to besides indulging his lover’s obvious plot to keep him from killing Sho Sakurai.

He pushed at Ohno’s chest, harder this time that had Ohno reeling back, eyes wide as he stared at him; he almost, almost wasn’t able to keep himself from reaching out to Ohno and apologize, but at least he was able to stay firm, enough to throw Ohno a steely glance as he crossed his arms tightly over his chest.

“Please, what Ohchan?” he bit back.

Ohno looked down, bringing his hands up to thread his fingers roughly through his hair. “Please, you don’t want to do this,” he said, then, “Can’t you at least listen to what I have to say first?”

“Listen to what?!” he yelled, feeling his patience sliding dangerously low and it didn’t help that Ohno looked as if he also didn’t have any idea what he was supposed to say anyway. “I’ve been trying, really, Ohchan, but you’re not making any sense, at all! Personal satisfaction aside, it is still my job to finish Sakurai and the rest of his family, and I don’t need to fucking ask for your blessing because –“

“I told you, you’d end up regretting it if you don’t stop now, Kazu!”

He felt suddenly incredulous, shaking his head as he laughed almost hysterically, the combination of confusion and annoyance was probably what set him off. “Ohchan, Ohchan,” he mused, indulging the older man once before he’s out of here. “You do know I can’t do that. We are being paid to kill people, and if I want to keep my job, that’s what I need to do. Now be a good boy and let me through,”

He watched the horror passed through Ohno’s expression before he heard Ohno muttered, “You’re so stubborn, and I don’t really know how I was able to keep up with you when you’re nothing but a hard-headed fool. I don’t know why I bother trying to stop you from doing this when I’m sure there’s nothing –“

“What I don’t understand is why the fuck you seem hell bent on protecting that man, when you know full well what killing him with my own two hands meant to me,“ he gritted, breathing the words venomously at Ohno and effectively cutting the older man’s words off, his anger coming back in full force all of a sudden. “And unless you stop trying to keep me here by babbling endlessly about something you clearly don’t know if you even want to tell me, I’m leaving. Kamenashi is already there waiting for me, and I want to be there to kill Sakurai Sho myself before that guy get bored and kill Sakurai himself,” he said with finality before holstering his bag up his shoulder and side-stepping Ohno without even a second glance.

What he didn’t expect was Ohno’s words exactly the same time his hand was at the door, poised to push at it and paused to stare back at Ohno.

“W-What did you just say?”

Ohno didn’t even bothered turning, hands clenching by his side and repeated,

“You are not your father’s son because you are Sakurai Shohei’s – his bastard – the son he didn’t have any idea he has because your mother chose to hide you from him; kill Sakurai Sho and you will end up hating yourself forever for killing your own flesh and blood.”

 

 


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He wanted to give Sho the freedom he had before all of these, and to be able to do that, he had to man up and face Nino once and for all.

He quietly slipped on his jacket, standing by the foot of the bed to stare at Sho’s sleeping form and feeling the sudden rush of warmth when Sho shifted to nuzzle at his pillow – the one where he’d laid onto next to the older man just a few moments ago. His throat was closing up at the thought of leaving Sho to himself, but if he wanted to keep Sho alive, he’d have to do this.

He trusted this place Ohno brought them with was safe enough for him to leave Sho by himself, and wishing he’d be able to gather all the courage he’d be needing to face the man who would stop at nothing to wipe Sho Sakurai off the face of the earth.

He wanted to give Sho the freedom he had before all of these, and to be able to do that, he had to man up and face Nino once and for all.

And he had to do it now.

#

His back had connected almost too painfully against the hard wall, and Nino’s fingers were clutching the front of his shirt tight enough to hurt, hissing under his breath as he glared up at him under his lashes. Nino’s gritting his teeth by the time he managed to close a hand over Nino’s own, wishing this was the right move, please let this be it because if not –

“What the fuck did you just said?” Nino spat, each word was punctuated with unrestrained anger and force that had him wincing when Nino began shaking him wildly, frustratingly; “You better pray to whoever you pray to, Satoshi, that I misheard you because if not, I swear to my mother’s grave, even if I’m so stupidly _in lo_ \- fond with you, I will end you myself and I don’t care if you’re –“

“You didn’t,” he supplied, squaring his shoulders and firmly closing his fingers around Nino’s smaller ones, meeting Nino’s glare, “ – you heard me right. You are Sakurai Shohei’s son, so that makes you and Sakurai Sho brothers – half-brothers, if you want to be technical about it but still,”

A roughly uttered curse escaped Nino’s lips, pressing him further against the wall. “Stop lying to me!” Nino yelled with all the force he could muster and Ohno was momentarily struck at the way Nino was looking at him like he was somebody else – a stranger – and staring at Nino the Assassin, and not his Kazu.

“I am not lying to you, Kazu,” he whispered, and in that exact moment something in Nino’s stance changed, like he was fighting with himself if he was going to believe Ohno or not. He pointed behind Nino’s shoulder with his other free hand, while his other he kept wrapped around Nino’s hand that was still gripping his shirt, like he’d meant to keep Nino closer even when Nino looked seconds away from killing him right here and now. “There –“ he said, still pointing, “ – on the third left drawer, the yellow envelop on the bottom to which I drew your face on –  everything is in there – everything there is to know about your birth and your biological parents. Those are the documents I have been gathering for the past week which I’ve just completed three days ago,”

“How do I know you’re not doing this just to distract me?”

“I _am_ doing this to distract you, but that doesn’t mean I am not telling the truth,” he replied, tightening his hold against Nino’s hand before letting his other hand slide down, to the gentle curve of Nino’s waist. “ – and I know you trust me enough to believe me so let’s not waste our time here – go and check them out and see it for yourself,” he said.

But Nino was already halfway to where he pointed the location of the documents even before Ohno’s words were out of his mouth.

#

 

Annoyed, he took another drag at his possibly thirteenth cigarette in the last ten minutes and throwing it to the ground afterwards, stomped on it while he checked his phone again; he’d been standing here for over an hour already but there was still no response from his earlier email to Ninomiya.

He lit up another one as he started tapping a new message to Nino.

 _Date : 17 January 2013 @ 1:13a_  
Sender : KK  
Receiver : KN  
Subject : Waiting for further instructions.  
Message :

_Please tell me you’re not screwing with Ohno-san right now when you know you have to be somewhere really important, and partly because I am still standing here in the dark and these bugs surrounding me are minutes away from taking me home as their dinner._

_I’ll wait for another ten minutes and if you don’t reply, I’m going in. I will kill them myself, Nino, so I can get the hell out of here._

_Your ten minutes starts now._

He heaved a sigh and tapped send.

#

The safe house Ohno had taken them to was only fifteen minutes away from the older man’s shared apartment with Nino, a fact that amazed Jun more than he would dared admit, because damn, who would’ve thought that? Even he himself didn’t realize it until he was standing right next to Ohno and Nino’s apartment block, his GPS telling him exactly where Ohno was, and twisting around to squint at the huge and brightly-lighted Ajinomoto ad glaring at him from the rooftop of the apartment building Ohno took them to.

He shook his head as he rounded the way to the back, swiftly and quietly moving through the darkness and following the blinking white light that would take him exactly to where Ohno was. He was sure the older man was with Nino, because he remembered him saying about making sure that Nino still hadn’t blown up their house, and grinning as he absently reached inside his pocket, finding the key card to Ohno and Nino’s apartment that he had nicked from Ohno’s jacket pocket while they were being swallowed by the ground earlier, thanks to Aiba’s stupid inventions.

He didn’t bother taking the elevator up and just opted on using the stairs, his blinking GPS his only guide. He grimaced when he realized what he was about to do, and aside from how serious it’d be to just barge into the apartment of the two of the most dangerous assassins their Organization was able to produce, he couldn’t help but wished he wouldn’t have to walk in on them while they’re in the middle of an intense, _err,_ encounter.

His GPS beeped once, twice, on its screen an arrow pointing almost directly to the door opposite him, just next to the elevator; he quickly turned the device off and retrieved the key card from his pocket, and willed his fingers not to shake as he stood next to the door and slide the keycard on its place and waited for the tell-tale sounds of the door unlocking from the inside.

He braced himself as he reached out to push the door open.

#

He’s counted at least twenty different expressions passed through Nino’s eyes and still there were about a dozen he wasn’t sure he was able to name because one moment it’s there, and then the next time he blinked, it was instantly replaced with another. He was afraid this was the side of Nino he still wasn’t able to crack, this side of the younger man that he still hadn’t dared showed to anyone, even to him.

Nino’s fingers were careful as they flipped the pages of the documents he’s got in his hands, sometimes biting at his lips with his eyes too bright. Nino wasn’t even saying anything, but the way his Adams apple bobbed in quick successions meant he was trying to hold himself from speaking, or from even looking up to meet Ohno’s eyes behind those papers in his hand.

“K-Kazu,” he called, softly, as if testing the waters but Nino didn’t seem to hear him as he settled to walk slowly forward, and stopping abruptly when the papers slipped out of Nino’s grasp, his hand coming up to cradle the sides of his head as his shoulders shook with the force of his quiet sobs.

“T-This – _t-this_ can’t be true,”

He was immediately by Nino’s side, tugging the younger man towards him. “I’m sorry, but it is,” he said through Nino’s hair, holding him close and wishing this was enough for him to believe, for Nino to finally go back to killing people for money and not for revenge.

“S-So does this mean Sakurai Shohei wasn’t the one who ordered that bastard I thought was my father to kill my mother and sister?”

He was silent for a minute before he replied, “No,” he said with an edge in his voice as he tugged Nino closer. “ – because the order to kill your Mom and sister was not from Sakurai Shohei but from his wife – from Sakurai Sho’s _mother_ ,”

 

 

 

#

The tip of his cigarette glowed as he took another drag, puffing out the smoke as he stared at his phone.

There was still no reply from Nino.

That was enough; he’s not going to wait anymore.

 _Date : 17 January 2013 @1:23a_  
Sender : KK  
Receiver : KN  
Subject : Re: Waiting for further instructions.  
Message :

_Your ten minutes is up, Ninomiya-san. I’m going in._

 

#

“No,” Ohno said and he almost wasn’t able to stop himself from crossing the distance between him and the other two just so he could be able to hear what Ohno was going to say next. He kept his eyes and ears open, bracing himself against the wall and practically twitching impatiently. “ – because the order to kill your Mom and sister was not from Sakurai Shohei but from his wife – from Sakurai Sho’s mother,”

He gasped, the ground beneath him seemed to crumble into pieces as he slowly leaned back against the cold wall and closed his eyes, relief washing over him in countless waves.

“Sho-chan,” he breathed quietly to the darkness as he willed himself not to shake at the revelation, hoping against hope that this, finally, was what he’d been waiting for to stop Nino from wanting to eliminate Sho.

He hoped this was enough.

#

Nino froze inside his hold and he briefly wished he didn’t have to say it but he knew he didn’t have the right to keep the truth from Nino, because in the end, it would still be Nino’s choice. Nino wriggled out of his grasp and Ohno allowed him, as he stood by and waited until Nino figured out what he wanted to do.

He saw Nino’s hand twitched as he reached inside his pocket to retrieve his phone, muttering, “This is like a fucking daytime drama, really,” before sliding his thumb over his phone’s screen and unlocking it. He looked up at Ohno at the same time he tapped at the blinking message, opening it as he wiped his face using the back of his other free hand.

He shrugged, feeling a bit relieved that Nino was at least cracking a joke even when he was still mostly slouched onto himself, and was clearly having an internal battle with himself. “Daytime dramas don’t have sexy assassins like us; besides, I love you too,” he muttered, making sense possibly only to himself.

Nino snorted, and then was cursing up and down exactly the second after, and the younger man was up on his feet before he could even ask him what was wrong.

“Shit,” Nino hissed, crossing the room to retrieve his bag, and they both froze at the man standing just at the front of their apartment door. “Matsumoto, what the fuck are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be with – oh fucking hell!”

Jun seemed to have swallowed his tongue but was able to gather his wits in just a matter of seconds, shaking himself out of daze and stepping forward. “Ninomiya, we need to talk,” he said, taking brave steps towards Nino and completely misreading Nino’s intentions by curling his hand around Nino’s bony elbow, tugging him back forcefully. Nino hissed and wriggled out of his grasp, cursing.

 “Oh for the love of all that’s fucked up –“

“Matsumoto-san, how did you – oh,” he paused, blinking at the keycard dangling in between Jun’s fingers – his keycard – and only realizing belatedly that he didn’t lose it – Jun took it from him.

Nino was throwing profanities in the same breath, sidestepping them both and shoving Jun out of the way but not before he made sure to retrieve his bag from where he had tossed it carelessly aside earlier, his fingers tapping relentlessly on his phone. When Nino looked up to meet his eyes, he immediately felt cold.

“K-Kazu,”

Nino’s eyes were wild and unfocused, and he wished that at that moment, he was reading the younger man wrongly, because –

“You better pray to whoever you’re praying to that _my_ brother is still alive, because if not, I am going to kill you both myself; You –“ he turned, glancing icily at Jun, “ – for leaving him alone, and you –“ turning to face him as well, “ – for keeping the truth to yourself for so long,”

He nodded, feeling utterly defeated as he and Jun followed Nino out.

He bet he would be killing himself too if he were Nino anyway.

#

Sakurai looked ten kinds of horrified and he wished he had the luxury to film this so he could show it to Nino; the man’s eyes grew wide as he stared at him, unable to speak as he cocked his gun and pointed it straight to the terrified man’s face.

“Hello, Sakurai-san,” he said around a satisfied grin, “I see you’ve made the most of your last day on earth,” he said, eyeing the man as Sakurai clutched the sheets protectively around his waist, his fingers trembling against their grip on the white fabric.

“W-Who are you?”

He shrugged. “Wouldn’t it be better not to know my name? It would only taint the lovely memories of yourself and your lover – here, in this room –“ he paused, chuckled under his breath when the man’s expression slowly hardened, the initial fright giving way to something easier to pin down – anger.

“If you’re here to kill me, then please go ahead, I’m not stopping you – time’s wasting, you know?”

He shook his head, feeling suddenly incredulous; no wonder the man was said to be almost like his father – smart, unexpectedly brave and ten times more stupid.

“Aren’t you even going to ask me why?”

Sakurai tilted his head to the side, smiling a little as he leaned back against the bed’s headboard; he looked relaxed, calm even, and he didn’t really know if it’s all for show.

Sakurai shrugged. “At this point, I don’t think I am in the position to ask, much more care about the reasons; somebody wants me dead – you are here to make sure I die before the night is over, so why prolong the agony? Kill me so you can get this over and done with,”

He grinned, shifting his weight onto his other foot and pointing. “Well, if you put it that way –“

 

#

He merely blinked, kept his eyes locked on the man’s face instead of tearing his gaze away, calling out Jun’s name under his breath like the younger man could hear him. His heart was beating so loud that it was the only sound he’s hearing, coupled with the man’s loud chuckles when he all but dared him to do it – to kill him quickly.

“Well, if you put it that way –“

Well at least it would be quick.

#

“Kamenashi, don’t!” Nino yelled and fired, the sound of two consecutive gun shots breaking through the quiet air and Jun’s heart leapt to his throat when his eyes immediately zoomed onto Sho’s awkwardly still form, red pooling all over the white sheets.

Kame’s gun was still in his hand when Nino walked forward, pointing and emptying the rest of his own into the back of Kame’s head.

The world swayed dizzyingly around his feet as he stumbled forward, his lover’s name spilling out of his mouth like an automatic reflex.

“Sho!”

He was vaguely aware of Ohno moving behind Nino to tug the slighter man up, arms wrapping around Nino’s trembling form before Ohno turned to him and yelled his name.

 

 

 

 


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a year since, and he didn’t think he’d ever choose to go back if only to remember the bitter pain of losing Sho that night; there were so many things happened in between, from the time he left Japan and the time he’d spent in a foreign land, doing things he didn’t think he’d ever dreamt of doing prior to meeting the older man.

It’s been a year since, and he didn’t think he’d ever choose to go back if only to remember the bitter pain of losing Sho that night; there were so many things happened in between, from the time he left Japan and the time he’d spent in a foreign land, doing things he didn’t think he’d ever dreamt of doing prior to meeting the older man.

But he knew he’d done all that to forget – coping up in his own way that nobody seemed to understand then, even now. Sho was dead, and he didn’t think there was any reason for him to be there, so he requested to be transferred somewhere far from Japan, far from the memory of Sho; he was immediately sent to an underground and undisclosed location in Lahore two days after, a place in Pakistan to which their organization had started conducting extensive training for agents who requested to be sent out to far more dangerous missions – missions that not all agents are given the privilege to undertake if they weren’t specifically trained in this place.

And now he’s back.

He didn’t really know why he agreed on going home, because there was nothing here for him, at least not anymore; his family had been living in America for the past five years, with different names and identities for their own protection and he’d only been in contact with Aiba a few times since he left Japan, but even that didn’t surmount to the reality that he had chosen to runaway just because he couldn’t bear the pain of losing Sho when he was supposed to be protecting him.

He could still remember that night like it only happened the day before, so clearly that he could still feel the warmth of Sho’s body against his, the horrifying feel of Sho’s blood pooling underneath his hands. Sometimes he found himself waking up at night, screaming Sho’s name and clutching the sheets underneath him as if it was going to swallow him whole.

There were also those sleepless nights where he wished that he too, had died that night with Sho.

He hoisted his bag up on his shoulder, slipped on his sunglasses as he strode into the fading Tokyo sunset, the email he received two nights ago from Ninomiya was the only thing that was keeping him from turning back around to book himself a flight back to Pakistan. He had been given a two-week break after his last mission in Iran, and just when he was planning on spending those two weeks in Dubai to unwind, Ninomiya’s mail came in.

The email itself was nothing out of the ordinary, just the older man whining about how he missed talking to sensible people, at least sensible enough to hold a conversation with him and that there’s apparently no one to bitch with back there because Jun was so busy fucking and killing those Muslim talibans to even think of going back to Japan and be the normal assassin that he was, because seriously, life is so boring there since Jun left.  Nino and Ohno had been ‘off-duty’ for the most part of last year, and he didn’t bother asking them why. He figured it was because of the fact that like him, Nino lost someone important too – a brother – even if they weren’t given the chance to really get to know each other because of Sho’s untimely death.

But there was something in Nino’s email that had piqued his curiosity, the way Nino had said ‘ _come home, it’s been a year already and we’ve been waiting – the sea and the ugly house you bought near it had been waiting for your return, don’t make them wait for another year; aren’t you tired of running?_ ’ like there’s an urgency somewhere there, like Nino was giving him something to think about – something that would make him decide to pack up his things and book the very first available flight back to Tokyo.

The black car awaiting him at the front gate was unexpected, as well as the grinning Junior Tech waiting impatiently for him besides it; he pushed his sunglasses up and grinned back, almost stumbling forward when Aiba all but reached for him with both arms, almost tackling him to the floor.

“Matsun, welcome home!” Aiba exclaimed gleefully, hugging him so tight that his breath whooshed out of him in a rush; he returned the embrace as tightly as he could given the fact that he was almost out of breath because of how tight Aiba was hugging him, but it was okay – it had been a year since he allowed someone to be this close and Aiba was warm, and Aiba’s scent smelled exactly like home.

“Masaki,” he breathed, thumping the taller man on the back, swallowing the lump forming in his throat when Aiba nodded repeatedly against his shoulder.

“We’ve been waiting for you, Mattsun –“ Aiba said and then halted to a stop immediately afterwards, like he had more to say but realized he wasn’t allowed to, pushing him off a little till they’re at arm’s length and Aiba staring him up and down; he was smiling despite the tears and Jun felt another tug at his heartstrings when Aiba lowered his gaze and wiped his cheeks.

There it was again, the odd feeling that something was amiss – like there was something really important these guys weren’t telling him but he couldn’t really pinpoint what it was. Aiba looked a little restless, and he was pretty sure it had something to do with Ninomiya.

He didn’t really know what it was but he figured he would soon find out.

He thumped the taller man again before throwing his arm over Aiba’s shoulders. “Shall we go?” he asked, retrieving his bag and hoisting it back on his shoulder. “Wherever it may be,”

Aiba nodded and lead the way.

#

“I thought Ninomiya-san was joking when he said my house was waiting for me,” he mused drily, keeping his gaze straight ahead as Aiba carefully parked the car near the entrance of the house – the beach house which he’d bought out of whim; “I didn’t think we’d be heading here until I realized that we’re taking a familiar route,”

Aiba shrugged. “It’s your house,” he said, “why wouldn’t you want to stay here?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that I haven’t even stayed here for more than a month when I was here; the apartment in Tokyo was far more convenient,”

Aiba stopped the car, pulled the key out of the ignition and removed his seatbelt before he turned to his side and opened the door without another word; Jun was left with no other choice but to do the same.

Aiba just waited until he’s out of the car before he’s turning around again, heading straight to the front door; Jun was sure he left his keys to the house somewhere, but he didn’t have them now so he was a little surprised to see Aiba whipping out a set of housekeys from out his pocket, taking one with so little difficulty and using it to open the front door.

“Wow, I didn’t know the Organization also has access to agents’ supposed ‘personal properties’,” he mused loud enough to startle Aiba but the taller man merely shrugged him off with a curt wave of his hand.

“We took the keys from your old apartment, Mattsun,” he said, pushing the door wide open and standing there, waiting for him to cross the remaining step between him and the door; there was something utterly different from the way he remembered this house to be but as it was, he still couldn’t quite pinpoint it. “Ninomiya-san gave them to me this morning along with the keys for that car. I’ll leave you _both_ here for now, and I’ll come back later if you need me; everything we thought you’d be needing, we have already bought for you so we trust there won’t be any problem, but if there’s anything –“ he paused, fishing something out of his pocket and handing it to Jun – a mobile phone. “ – call me. My number’s on speed dial 4,”

Things really started to get weirder and weirder every goddamn minute but he was too damn tired to argue. So he took the phone from Aiba’s hand and nodded his agreement.

“Speed dial 4. Right.” he said, eyeing the phone contemplatively before putting it inside his jacket’s pocket. Then, “Where the hell are Ohno and Nino anyway?”

Aiba’s smile this time was almost close to that one he remembered seeing on the older man’s face back in the days.

“Finishing a job somewhere, but they’ll be here before midnight; Ninomiya-san said they’d be here to welcome you a few hours after you arrived just to make sure you’re not too angry anymore to kill him the next time you see him, so –“

He frowned, stepping forward to the threshold as Aiba let go of the door to let him pass. “I don’t see any reason why I would even want to do that after all the trouble you guys  –“ he said, raising his head to the sound of footsteps coming from inside the house, and paused.

“ _Ma-chan,_ welcome home,”

Aiba nudged him and muttered, as quiet as he could. “Because of _that_ ,”

 

##

 

He stared and stared, and yet he still couldn’t quite believe his own eyes so he did exactly what his mind had been telling him, crossing the distance between him and the man, and stopping a good few steps away from him, staring the man up and down; he couldn’t quite bring himself to reach out and touch him just yet because of so many reasons aside from the few obvious ones.

“I… you were _dead_ ,” he croaked, curling his fingers into a ball and trying his hardest to stay perfectly still as the man before him tilted his head in affirmation; “ – I saw you die, y-you – you were d-dead when they brought you out and I even – I was there when they c-cremated you,”

There was a slight movement behind him but he ignored it entirely, his attention focused only at the man before him; he didn’t want to take his gaze away from the man, because he was afraid that his eyes were playing with him again, like he’s seeing something he knew wasn’t there at all.

The man reached out and he jerked. “J-Jun,”

“W-Wait,” he spit out, backing up a step and eyeing the man before him suspiciously; this might be a trap, this man could be someone else entirely, could have simply copied Sho’s face if only to lure him back here but –

“It’s me,” the man said, softly, the sound almost got lost in between them because Jun could only hear the sound of his own throbbing heartbeat. “It is really me; I don’t know how to start explaining this, but you have to believe me because my death –“

“ – was staged and none of it was true,” said someone from somewhere behind them and Jun had to force himself this time, just enough to tear his eyes away from the other man so as to acknowledge the newcomer – or newcomers, given the fact that there were two people hovering on the doorway.

“N-Ninomiya,” he found himself muttering as the man in question stepped in fully, dragging his companion in with him.

Ohno gave him a quiet nod and a curt, “ _Matsumoto-san, welcome back,”_ at the same time Nino mumbled _“I knew this will happen so here we are; better to spill the beans now rather than later_ ,” as his way of answering the obvious question hanging at the tips of Aiba’s tongue. Jun saw the slighter man grabbed for Ohno’s hand, half-dragging him and pushing him down into one of the couch there; Jun mentally noted how the furniture here didn’t look like the ones he had before he left.

His gaze shifted to Nino’s smirking face and felt his chest tightened at the sudden burst of annoyance, squaring his jaw and stepping back in an apparent automatic reflex.

“W-Wait, wait,” he heard Aiba grumbled from his other side, like he’s already anticipating Jun to lung forward and kill Nino with his bare hands. “ – wait, Mattsun, let him explain first,”

“Jun,” a hand curled around his elbow and he jerked away at the contact, his instincts telling him to believe, to settle down for a bit and wait till the others were ready to fill in the details he was sure he’s missing until now, but his brain was telling him exactly the opposite. He turned back to face the other man, feeling a sudden twist inside him when he saw the man’s expression -- hurt, pain, and something akin to longing written across his pretty face. He wanted to reach out and feel him, just to know if he really was who he claimed he is but he couldn’t.

They should know that nothing about this was easy, and they shouldn’t have expected him to simply believe that Sho was alive after a whole fucking year of grieving miserably over the older man; they shouldn’t, because losing Sho then was even harder than facing death himself.

The man nodded as if he understood Jun completely, taking a step back and letting Jun be, at least for now. He then turned to Nino, motioning his hand before he started walking away; Jun felt something inside him clenched painfully, like he knew he was supposed to follow him, tell him not to go, but he couldn’t quite find the strength to do it.

A year doing nothing but savage killing had possibly cut what was remain of his humanity before this, and he wasn’t sure if he’d still be allowed the luxury to feel something more than hatred – at himself, most of all – after this.

But watching the man who _claimed_ was Sho walked away from him, he thought, _why not give it a try?_ Nothing about this was more painful than losing Sho then, and if they were telling the truth, then maybe, just maybe –

“From the start,” he gritted when the man disappeared into what he supposed was his kitchen, turning completely around to face Nino, his jaw set and his eyes crinkling around the edges. “I want you to explain everything to me from the very beginning,”

Nino visibly relaxed and gave him the tiniest of smiles.

“You might want to take a seat first because this is going to be freaking long,”

He strode forward and took the couch opposite to Ohno, motioning for Nino to do the same. Nino did, plopping himself beside Ohno and taking one of Ohno’s hand, lacing their fingers together. Jun kept himself from rolling his eyes at the gesture.

“Well, you see,” Nino started around a fairly secretive grin, “ – everything was based on your lame idea, anyway,” he continued.

Jun frowned. “Excuse me?” he said, at the same time Ohno and Aiba laughed simultaneously.

Nino nodded, looking far more relaxed than the situation warranted, shifting a little to swat at Ohno’s arm before he went back to focusing his attention to Jun.

“You remember before when you tried to make me believe that _my_ brother died just so you could protect him from me?” Nino asked, softer than he ever heard the older man spoke, his expression softer even. “I did the exact same thing,” he said, so low that it was almost like a whisper. “Only I was able to make it a hundred times believable by keeping the truth even from you,”

His eyes widened at the realization. “You – _what?!”_

#

The silence that followed only seemed entirely appropriate after the revelation.

He didn’t seem too ready to move nor speak just yet, shifting his eyes to Nino and Ohno, then to Aiba, then to his shaking fingers, leaning back against the couch in haste as he tried processing what he’d just heard.

It was all very surreal.

He wasn’t exactly sure if there was anything he should be doing now, like maybe it was to be expected if he’s grabbing the nearest heavy object and using it to kill Ninomiya on the spot, because seriously, the man deserved it and more, but he couldn’t really deny the fact that no matter how fucking angry he was, he couldn’t help but feel grateful towards the slighter man.

If anything, he should be thankful that Ninomiya’s smart enough to come up with a perfect plan to remove Sakurai Shohei’s family from the Organization’s ‘hit list’ by ‘killing each member of the Sakurai family’ the way they should be killed.

And based from what he’d just heard, Nino started it with Sakurai Sho.

That night one year ago, as clearly as Jun could remember, Sho had died; he knew because he was there, and because he was sure Sho took his very last breath while he’s inside the cradle of his arms. There were blood everywhere, and back then, he didn’t really felt the need to inspect much further because just the sight of Sho’s pale, blood-stricken and unmoving body was enough to make him want to also kill himself right then and there.

He remembered hearing Ohno yelling his name, could remember hearing the sounds of Nino’s garbled commands as he talked to someone on his phone; there was also the unmistakably loud sound of his own heart thumping wildly against his chest, but it was quickly replaced with the sounds of shuffling footsteps as the Organization’s back up team arrived just in time. He vaguely remembered being pushed aside and then Nino was moving forward to command the head of the backup team, but he was too damn shocked to even comprehend a single thing of what Nino was saying.

He saw when they slid Sho’s body inside that black body bag and zipped it shut; saw it when they carried the bag out without looking back, and the three of them piling out after them. The pain must have been the reason why he was moving on autopilot then, feeling too numb to even care and simply following the others around wherever they directed him to.

He wasn’t even allowed to see Sho’s body until evening the following day, and it was only a few minutes before the Organization’s double agents were supposed to hand over Sho’s body to his family.

That same night, he requested to be transferred to Pakistan, his flight just three hours after Sho’s body was to be cremated and be laid to rest on the family mausoleum.

And the rest was history, at least on his part.

But here was where Nino’s version of the story came in.

Nino said that he too was not aware that Sho was alive until after the Organization’s back-up/medical team arrived and checked Kame and Sho’s bodies; he was not aware about the fact that Sho was fighting tooth and nail for his life until much later when the bodies were brought in to one of the Organization’s very own medical facility a little over fifteen minutes since they were taken with. Nino said that even he was sure that Sho was dead, since Kame’s bullet had hit Sho straight in the chest and it had been stuck there the whole time; but when the medical/backup team took him out, they said they heard Sho groaned weakly and grabbed the hand of one of the medical guys attending him then before he once again fell completely still.

Even though the team was well aware of the consequences they might be facing afterwards, none of them hesitated on quickly doing what they need to do to save Sho then.

The call to Nino a few minutes after was what prompted everything, from transferring Sho from the Organization’s medical facility to one of the city’s trusted but low-profiled hospitals to making sure that the few who knew about Sho being alive were properly briefed about keeping the information strictly to themselves, or else he would be forced to take the necessary action just to make sure everything’s under control.  

 “But that’s impossible,” he had hissed in a sudden fit of incredulity, his common sense telling him otherwise even though he was so close to running off and finding the man he thought had died that night – the man who meant the world to him – but he had kept himself from doing so knowing that he’d have to hear the rest before he did something drastic. “How were you able to keep everything hidden until now, from keeping everyone who knows about _our_ involvement to your _brother_ from talking, when everyone in the Organization knows about the Sakurai family being on top of the Organization’s hit list?” he had said, shaking his head and laughing mirthlessly at the fact that none of this made sense anymore. “I don’t get it,” he had added.

Nino had tilted his head then and looked overly confident for his own good. “It’s called ‘ _connections’_ , Matsumoto-san,” Nino had boasted, at the same time Ohno shrugged and murmured, “Apparently, Johnny-san thought it was wise to hand over the decisions to Nino and let him do whatever the hell he wanted with this particular case rather than going through all those trouble of finishing this bothersome job and lose a bunch of his best assassins in the process,”

He didn’t even try hiding his shock then. “Johnny-san?!” he had blurted out.

“The one and only,” Nino had snorted and then, “ – I told you, it’s called ‘connections’ and because I have it, I was able to make everything possible; just –“ Nino’s voice had dropped a few notches lower before he had lifted his head to meet Jun’s eyes. “S-Sorry if you had to suffer because of it, but you have to believe me, I did it for Sho – I did it for _my_ brother’s sake,” Nino had followed, ducking his head and bowing slightly.

It felt like eternity until someone was brave enough to cut the silence – Aiba – who had been squirming uncomfortably in his seat, had cleared his throat almost too noisily to get their attention; Jun lifted his head and caught Nino staring at him expectantly, like he was simply waiting for the inevitable to be thrown his way.

He wished it were that easy but he guessed that after all that had been said and done, he couldn’t deny the fact that he’s a thousand times grateful, more than anything else. But still, he had to make sure he knew the rest of the story before he went straight to killing Ninomiya with his own tie. He straightened his back, lips pinched as he kept himself from saying anything and trusting Nino to know that he’s waiting still.

Nino seemed to realize this and nodded, fingers tangling against Ohno’s, but the older man seemed to have taken it as his job to surprise Jun through and through by taking the words completely out of Nino’s mouth without any preamble.

“There was no other way to take the job off the hit list once it was already paid for and given out, Matsumoto-san,” Ohno mumbled on his general direction, looking as calm as Jun remembered him to be; “You know that yourself; Kazu did the only thing he knew was best to keep Sho-kun and his family alive, without compromising us,”

He met Ohno’s gaze but he couldn’t bring himself to affirm what was already obvious; but he wasn’t banking on Ninomiya to go through all that trouble just to save Sho, and not even the fact that they were brothers would have been reason enough for him to believe that Nino had it in him to care for another person that wasn’t himself or Ohno.

And Jun knew about the directives – about how no one’s powerful enough to stop a kill once it had been given out.  He knew that, of course he did, and he knew it should be enough to spare Nino the hatred he’d once felt for the man, and he would but if only –

“You shouldn’t have kept it from me for so long,” he gritted once he’s aware that he’s slowly gaining control of his emotions, shifting his glance coldly through each of the three’s faces, then, “Y-You – You people don’t know what I have to go through this past year to live – how close I had been from killing myself everyday because I –“

Ohno tugged at Nino’s hand when Nino tried to speak. “Our hands were tied, Matsumoto-san,” the older man said, “ – because Johnny-san specifically forbid us to inform anyone, most especially _you_ , unless we’re sure that Sho-kun’s life is no longer in imminent danger,”

“Especially me?” he said, frowning; “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Nino answered this time. “Because you’ve been under close surveillance since you left Japan, J; you might not know it but the people who ordered the hit on my father – on Sakurai Shohei’s family are also the people who are behind the assassination of Prime Minister Miho back in 2001,”

He gasped; he didn’t know why such powerful people were after the Sakurais’ heads but who was he to question this when he’d been one of those who were getting paid with a buttload of money to do the kill for them.

“If you think that burying yourself under the Pakistan soil was enough to take those people’s eyes off you, then you’re certainly wrong; they have someone spying on you even when you were sent to Moscow, and only the fact that you stopped contacting anyone in Japan for practically the whole year was what prompted them to finally believe that you don’t have any involvement to the Sakurais anymore, thus the order to stop following you around came to effect a week after you got back from Iran,” Ohno added afterwards.

He shook his head as the final pieces slid into place, staring at the space before him and trying to regulate his breathing although it proved to be wholly difficult.

“So, you know, if you think I was wrong for doing what I have done and you’re still planning on killing me after everything I have sacrificed just to keep your Sho alive, then bring it on – I am not going to stop you,” Nino said after a long stretch of silence, and giving him a look that said nothing much as he gripped his lover’s hand tightly.

Sacrificed?

Jun wanted to scoff but decided against it, even though he was really tempted to ask the other man if the word he just used was the most fitting, because he was pretty sure that Ninomiya didn’t suffer, much more sacrificed a whole fucking lot the way he himself had sacrificed and suffered the blow of Sho’s apparent death this past year.

But he would be lying if he would say he’s not upset, because no one in their proper state of mind could accept things such as these quite readily, but after everything that had been revealed, he guessed Nino could ask him his entire life savings and he would give them all to the older man without even batting an eyelash.

He’s practically beaming with happiness and he was afraid he’d kill them all with the force of it when he all but stood up, an almost quiet sob wrenching itself out from the back of his throat.

“I’m going to find Sho,” he breathed, and for the first time in such a long time, saying Sho’s name didn’t hurt as much as it did when he said it out loud before.

Nino chuckled, fond and knowing and the sound was even better when it coupled with the sounds of Ohno and Aiba’s own. “What, that’s it? Aren’t you even going to thank me?”

He was by the foot of the stairs by the time he turned to lift his hand and threw Nino the middle finger, grinning so hugely that he was afraid it would split his face in half; his eyes were prickling because of the tears he didn’t even bothered hiding, wiping his face with the back of his palm as he steadied himself against the stair’s railing with the other.

“There’s no way in hell I am going to thank you for making me suffer,” he muttered but it lacked the bite he supposed should be there as he slowly continued his journey up the stairs, “ – but I’m willing to give you the paycheck for the last job I did if you promise not to show your face here until one of us calls you,”

Nino was practically grinning from ear to ear. “Fair enough,” he scuffed, turning to nose at Ohno’s cheek; “I don’t think I would want to see you guys blowing each other off whenever I come in to visit anyway,” he said, turning to give him a smile that not at all teasing, but instead, something that he was sure he had never seen on Nino’s face before.

He stopped on the third step and watched as Nino hauled Ohno up, motioning for Aiba to follow as well.

“We’re leaving now,” Nino announced, still smiling fondly back at him; “Take good care of my brother for me, okay?”

He nodded. “I will,” and resumed his journey up the steps, his heart on his throat.

#

There were only two rooms up here; one was relatively smaller than the other but he couldn’t really remember what they looked like anymore. It’s been years since he properly stayed here for more than a day, and he felt a little awkward to be walking around here, not knowing where to go. He suspected he’d find Sho somewhere here, sitting or reading, or just doing something to pass the time, but the hallways was deserted, as was what he supposed was the smaller room that had been converted into a mini-library.

His feet brought him straight to the bigger room, the one which he was sure was used to be his bedroom (at least it was, when he had the time to actually stay here for the night and sleep), pushing the door open and stopping in the doorway, hand gripping the knob tight enough to hurt.

His heart must have stopped beating for a good few seconds there the minute his eyes focused to the man standing by the window, arms crossed over his chest and leaning against the windowsill with an unreadable look on his face.

He felt exhilarated all of a sudden, like the memory of the past year was coming back in just a span of a few seconds, his chest close to bursting as he propelled his feet to move forward, eyes never leaving the man’s face.

“S-Sho,” he found himself whispering when he’s close enough that he could almost breath the man’s familiar scent in, hands reaching out to touch whatever part of Sho he was able to put his hands to; he felt like he’s breathing mouthful after mouthful of water, like he’s struggling to resurface but couldn’t and he was simply waiting for the other man’s touch to come rescue him from instantly dying. “S-Sho-chan,”

Sho’s eyes was too bright, too clear when he looked up to see him, his hands reaching back to steady him on his feet. “I’m here,” Sho croaked, raspy and shaky, but his hands were firm and strong when they grabbed Jun’s arms to support him.

Hands curling in front of Sho’s shirt, he found himself leaning in to bury his face against the crook of Sho’s neck, basking on the wonderful feeling of Sho’s warm skin against his lips.

“Oh god, _Sho_ –“ he called, and just like that he sobbed against the other man’s chest, his emotions turning into a hundred degrees overdrive when Sho’s arms gathered him in, pulling him in tighter and tighter. He’s sobbing like there was no tomorrow, shaking like a child who had lost something so precious and then getting it back again after so long.

“It’s okay, Jun; I’m here – I’m never leaving you again,” Sho muttered through his hair, fingers tangling across the back of his neck; he felt weak, his knees threatening to give way and only Sho’s tight grasp on his arms was what keeping him from completely falling down. “Never again, I promise,” Sho murmured again, tucking his head under the older man’s chin and keeping him closer still. He was suddenly hit with the realization that Sho was really here, that he was not dreaming, as an almost hysterical laughter wrenched itself out from the back of his throat, making him shake even more inside the cradle of Sho’s arms.

Sho stilled and pushed him back a little when Sho realized he was laughing, tears falling from his eyes still, because he should be the one saying it – he should be the one promising Sho about being here, about staying and protecting him and not the other way around.

But the world hadn’t been right since Sho died, like everything around him had stopped being right the moment Sho took his last breath and closed his eyes that night; nothing had been right since he whispered his goodbyes the day he left Japan, and Jun realized that he only needed to see the other man’s smile for his world to slowly right itself on its own.

“You bet you won’t,” he countered back, fingers gripping the collar of Sho’s shirt and tugging the older man to him, letting go briefly only to reach up and cupping Sho’s cheek tenderly. He’s choking with too many emotions hitting him all at once, his vision was cloudy and his hands were shaking despite his efforts to calm himself, but for all its worth, he didn’t think Sho would’ve minded much, not with the way Sho was looking at him like he’d rather die again than choose to let him go.

Sho’s skin was warm under his touch, wondering briefly how he was able to live his life until now without this – without Sho.

Sho closed his eyes and leaned up till their nose to nose, temples bumping against each other as Jun continued laughing and crying, hands cradling the side of Sho’s face before kissing the side of Sho’s mouth – tiny apologetic kisses that Sho returned with a few of his own.

“You too,” Sho murmured back, hands swiping at Jun’s face, leaning in to kiss the mole on Jun’s upper lip; “Stay with me,”

He kissed the older man with all the passion he could muster, wishing it was enough answer but if it’s not, he would let Sho know that he’s willing to do everything just to let him know…

“I’m not going anywhere without you, Sho-chan,” he said, eyes still closed as he pressed a soft, lingering kiss against Sho’s mouth, pulling the older man into a tight embrace. “Now shut up and kiss me because I think I’ve waited long enough, and I don’t think I can wait another year if you’re so close like this,” he grumbled, taking a hold of Sho’s arms and worming his own around the older man’s waist.

Sho grinned and tipped their foreheads together.

“You and me both,” he said.

Jun didn’t need him to translate that for him as he dove right in.

The world was right again -- for now.


End file.
